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All rules have their exceptions. CMYK is no different. All the issues that we discussed above do not apply to a selected group of Metallic inks, since it is very difficult to blend non-metallic inks to get silver, gold or any other metallic color. But what about black? You would think that a CMYK combination of C0% M0% Y0% and K100% would give you black - right? The answer is NO.

So when your design calls for rich black, do not accept what you see on the screen. Rich black is the usage of all 4 process colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black together. 4 passes of ink building upon each other creates a deeper black than simply using one pass of black. To maximize the quality of the black color, make sure you set up the CMYK values to C65% M53% Y51% K100%.



Black Text

Black text should not be created out of more than one color, especially small and thin type. Printing in register would be extremely difficult if black text was created out of more than one color.

Black TEXT should be created out of only one color Black.
Use Overprint to print text over colors.
Do not print black text over Very Dark colors.
Rich Black (CMYK black) should be used for very large solid areas. Use C65% M53% Y51% K100%.
Use the same CMYK Black values as in photos and the background if placed against a black background.
Photoshop - Set Custom CMYK Color Conversion - Set Black generation to maximum.
Use the same values for Black if being used in background and photos.