For catalog production managers, color can be a four-letter word. In some product lines in particular — apparel, home decor, food — inaccurate color reproduction can ruin the effectiveness of an otherwise sterling catalog.
“Misrepresentation of color could not only mean less visual impact but could negatively affect sales and the rate of returns,” explains Kim Carroll, vice president design and catalog for Memphis, TN-based Varsity Brands. “Our customers are buying uniforms they see in their school colors. If they don’t see [the exact colors in our catalog], they may shop elsewhere.”
To minimize the chances of a blue-red sweater appearing an unflattering orange-red or of a lush basket of apples looking as if they’d been left out in the sun too long, consider the following tips:
- Take bias out of the process
Everyone views color slightly differently, Carroll says. One person’s teal is another person’s aqua. Then, too, many factors can influence color accuracy, including the paper stock, lighting conditions you view in, the photographer’s lighting and backgrounds, says Carolyn Clark, creative director of Memphis-based Lewis Clark Advertising Design, Varsity’s prepress house.
To take the subjectivity out of the equation, “we swatch all the garments during the prepress process to ensure we are proofing the actual product,” she says. The creative and production staff compare proofs to the actual fabric swatches throughout all stages of production, including the press checks.
- Proof on actual job stock
If you’re proofing on matte paper, for example, and the catalog will be printed on glossy paper, there are bound to be discrepancies in color accuracy.
- Proof in a controlled lighting environment
Varsity Brands, for instance, strives to replicate during prepress proofing the lighting environment of its press checks.
- Establish a relationship with your printer
The printer and its press operators are the experts, so take advantage of their knowledge. “I tell people to talk with the press operators because they know how to get there and you don’t,” says Tim Gable, director of catalog for Madison, VA-based home products and gifts mailer Plow & Hearth. “Tell the press operator what you see and what you want. They do it eight hours a day.”
- Know your color combinations
When checking color, first determine if your image is washed out, Gable suggests. If it is, a quick fix is to increase the three color inks — cyan, magenta, and yellow. Then look at the blue: Is it too red, too green, not blue enough? Repeat this process for each color.
While on press, you may have to tinker with certain color combinations to get the right hue. If you need more brown in your background, for example, add blue because blue makes brown. Does your model look as if she has a bad case of sunburn? Add yellow, because yellow eats red. But be careful, Gable cautions, even a 4% shift in color can ruin the color. Again, here’s where the expertise of the press operators is key.
- Watch for color variance throughout the run
Don’t assume that if the color is correct at the beginning of the print run that it will remain correct through to the end. Inks and papers can vary within the same batch; plates and the machines’ moving parts can wear down.
- Check for inline compromise issues
Because catalogs are printed in signatures or forms of up to 16 pages, adding yellow to correct the color on the cover could result in a previously perfect image on page 4 now looking jaundice. When a color correction on one page of a form creates a problem on another page, be ready to prioritize. Before you attend the press run, be sure you know which images are most critical.
To reduce the likelihood of inline color issues, the design team at Varsity Brands groups “like colors” together when paginating its 206-page Varsity Spirit Fashions catalog, Carroll says.