PPC-127
CMYK 40/30/30/100 · Base build · Blacks and rich blacks
- c
- 40
- m
- 30
- y
- 30
- k
- 100
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.
On coated stock
On coated stock the sealed surface keeps the build at full density: this is the version closest to the on-screen approximation.
On uncoated stock
On uncoated the same build reads darker, duller and lower in contrast — dot gain plus absorption. This is not a fault; it is what that sheet does to process ink.
The full tonal run
Seven values built from this base — three shades that add black, three tints that drop ink. Hierarchy inside one hue, without introducing a second colour.
PPC-127
40/30/30/100
Base build
PPC-127.1
40/30/30/100
Base + 75K
PPC-127.2
40/30/30/100
Base + 50K
PPC-127.3
40/30/30/100
Base + 25K
PPC-127.4
30/23/23/75
75% ink
PPC-127.5
20/15/15/50
50% ink
PPC-127.6
10/8/8/25
25% ink
In production
- A four-colour build — check it on a proof before a large flat solid; that is where registration and drift show first.
- Rich black: supporting ink under the 100K. Keep it off small type and hairlines — the register has to be perfect or the type furs.
- Below about 8% a screen stops being reliable — on uncoated it fills in, on coated it can vanish. The tint steps here sit above that floor deliberately, so the light end of a family still prints as a colour rather than as a rumour.
Where we use it
- Solid grounds
- Cover stocks
- Anywhere flat black looked washed out
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.
Pairs beautifully with
Three combinations that hold up on press. Open one and the Studio starts with the stock, the foil and the ink already locked in.
PPC-127 on Gmund Cotton Shiny Cream
PPC-127 on Gmund Cotton Shiny Cream is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 40/30/30/100 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The warm cream with subtle sparkle ground shows through a translucent build — the printed colour shifts toward the sheet, so sign off against a printed sample.
Compatibility matrix
Start this combinationPPC-127 on Silk matte 16pt
PPC-127 on Silk matte 16pt is sealed, so the build lands close to 40/30/30/100 on the proof — dense, and the screens stay crisp. The any ground shows through a translucent build — the printed colour shifts toward the sheet, so sign off against a printed sample.
Compatibility matrix
Start this combinationPPC-127 on Clear acrylic
PPC-127 on Clear acrylic is sealed, so the build lands close to 40/30/30/100 on the proof — dense, and the screens stay crisp. The transparent ground shows through a translucent build — the printed colour shifts toward the sheet, so sign off against a printed sample.
Compatibility matrix
Start this combinationCommon questions
- What is the CMYK build for PPC-127?
- PPC-127 is C40 M30 Y30 K100 — written 40/30/30/100. It is one of our tested recommendations, not a published standard.
- How does PPC-127 print on uncoated stock?
- On uncoated the same build reads darker, duller and lower in contrast — dot gain plus absorption. This is not a fault; it is what that sheet does to process ink.
- How does PPC-127 print on coated stock?
- On coated stock the sealed surface keeps the build at full density: this is the version closest to the on-screen approximation.
- Should this be 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.