Curated process colour

903 four-colour builds across 129 hue families — each one a seven-step tonal run from a base we have printed. These are the values we recommend to clients and swap in on their behalf when a file arrives with a build that will not hold.

A curated build beats an arbitrary one because it has been on press. Values picked by eye in a design tool routinely use four inks where two would do, land in the part of the tint scale that drops out, or make a black that goes muddy. Every value here has been run, judged on a printed sheet, and kept.

Every swatch here is an on-screen APPROXIMATION of a four-colour build. Screens emit light and paper reflects it — no monitor can show you what ink on your stock will do. Ask for a proof.

Browse by colour family

Cyans42 builds

The one hue process printing owns outright. A cyan-led build needs no other ink to reach full strength, which is why it holds its cleanliness at every tint step.

6 tonal runs

Blues105 builds

The builds most often specified badly. A blue made of heavy cyan and heavy magenta goes purple on press and muddy on uncoated; ours keep the magenta honest.

15 tonal runs

Teals56 builds

Cyan with a measured yellow. Two-ink builds, so they stay in register and hold their tints without the grey cast a four-colour teal picks up.

8 tonal runs

Greens196 builds

Cyan plus yellow, black only where depth is wanted. Adding magenta to a green is the fastest way to make it look dirty — these builds don't.

28 tonal runs

Yellows49 builds

Single-ink at the top of the run, so they print clean and cost nothing extra. The light steps are where yellow drops out — ours are set above that floor.

7 tonal runs

Oranges70 builds

Magenta over yellow. Process cannot reach the brightest oranges — where a build stops short of a brand colour, the page says so and points at spot.

10 tonal runs

Reds98 builds

Two-ink builds that stay saturated instead of going brick. Reds shift the most between coated and uncoated of anything in the library.

14 tonal runs

Pinks77 builds

Magenta-led, with the tint steps set where a screen still holds. The palest pinks are where arbitrary builds vanish on an uncoated sheet.

11 tonal runs

Purples77 builds

The hardest family in process. A true violet is outside the four-colour gamut; these are the honest best, and the page names the spot alternative.

11 tonal runs

Warm neutrals21 builds

Greys with a little magenta and yellow in them. On a warm sheet they sit; a flat black-only grey next to a cream stock always reads cold.

3 tonal runs

Cool neutrals84 builds

Black-led greys, with just enough cyan to keep them from turning brown on an absorbent sheet. The tint steps are the workhorses of any layout.

12 tonal runs

Blacks and rich blacks28 builds

Flat 100K is not black — it is dark grey with a sheen. A rich black carries supporting ink under it. These are the builds that stay black and still hold small type.

4 tonal runs

The builds we specify most

PPC-027

85/100/0/5

Base build · Blues

PPC-127

40/30/30/100

Base build · Blacks and rich blacks

PPC-054

80/0/25/25

Base build · Teals

PPC-081

10/0/55/40

Base build · Greens

PPC-008

0/0/100/5

Base build · Yellows

PPC-108

0/55/35/40

Base build · Reds

PPC-035

0/100/50/5

Base build · Reds

PPC-062

80/80/0/25

Base build · Blues

PPC-089

55/0/30/40

Base build · Greens

PPC-016

100/0/65/5

Base build · Greens

PPC-116

0/0/0/70

Base build · Cool neutrals

PPC-043

0/15/80/25

Base build · Yellows

Colour optimization, before it goes to plate

We read the colour builds in your artwork before it goes to plate and swap in tested values where yours will not hold — four-colour builds that only need two, blacks that will print muddy, tints that sit under the floor. It is prepress, and it is the difference between a file that looks right and a sheet that comes off press right.

Where these came from

These are our own tested recommendations, developed on our presses and our stocks. They are not a published colour standard and are not affiliated with any colour system.

Spot inks Paper library Foil library

Common questions

What is a curated CMYK build?: A four-colour value we have run, judged on a printed sheet and kept. Every one of them is a recommendation we make to clients and routinely swap in during prepress. They are our own tested values — not a published standard, and not affiliated with any colour system.
Why not just pick a CMYK value in my design tool?: You can, and most of the trouble we fix in prepress starts there. Values picked on a screen routinely use four inks where two would hold better, land in the part of the tint scale that fills in or drops out, or make a black that prints as a muddy grey. A curated build has already been through that.
Will the same build look the same on coated and uncoated paper?: The same build is not the same colour on two stocks. Coated seals the surface, so the ink sits on top: denser, brighter, sharper. Uncoated absorbs it and the dots gain, so the identical numbers come back darker, duller and lower in contrast. Judge process colour on a proof printed on YOUR stock.
When should I use a spot ink instead?: Process is right for photographic work, for anything with many colours in it, and for jobs where the colour needs to be close rather than exact. A spot ink is right when the colour IS the brand and has to be identical on every run, and when the colour sits outside what four inks can reach at all. Process costs nothing extra on a full-colour job; a spot is an extra unit on press.
Why does my black look grey?: 100K on its own is not black on paper — it reads as a dark warm grey, especially over a large area. A rich black carries supporting ink beneath it. But keep rich black away from small type and hairlines: any register error and the type furs at the edges.
Do the colours on this page match what will print?: Every swatch here is an on-screen APPROXIMATION of a four-colour build. Screens emit light and paper reflects it — no monitor can show you what ink on your stock will do. Ask for a proof.