Curated CMYK teals
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.
Close, not exact. Each swatch is simulated for a standard coated or uncoated sheet, but a screen makes colour with light and paper reflects it. For the real thing, use the printed reference card.
Previews simulate a standard coated or uncoated sheet. A screen can't show ink exactly; the printed card can.
8 tonal runs · 56 builds
Dark → light, left to rightPPC-054
PPC-021
PPC-056
PPC-091
PPC-020
PPC-055
PPC-092
PPC-019
Every value
What to know before you specify one
- 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. Flip the switch above to see the difference, and judge the final colour on paper, not on a screen.
- 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.
- 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.
Builds with a full write-up
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-054 on Sirio Illusion Verdeoro
PPC-054 on Sirio Illusion Verdeoro is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 80/0/25/25 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The verdeoro, pulp-dyed base with an iridescent, embossed finish on one side; colour flips between two tones with viewing angle (names pair the two tones, e.g. rosa+malva) 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-054 on Gmund Bio Cycle Wheat Stroh
PPC-054 on Gmund Bio Cycle Wheat Stroh is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 80/0/25/25 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The wheat stroh, natural uncoated, each with its own feel: visible straw or grass particles, soft cotton rag, fine laid-like lines on cannabis 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-054 on Gmund Colors Matt Matt 45
PPC-054 on Gmund Colors Matt Matt 45 is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 80/0/25/25 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The matt 45, through-dyed uncoated matt with a fine felt texture 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
- Do these teals shift on uncoated stock?
- Yes, every one of them. Uncoated fibres absorb the ink and the dots gain, so the identical build comes back darker, duller and lower in contrast than the coated version. It is not a fault, it is what that sheet does to process ink. Check it on the printed reference card in our sample kit, and approve your digital proof before anything prints.
- Can you match a brand colour with one of these teals?
- Often, yes, and where a build stops short of the brand colour we say so and quote the spot alternative instead of quietly printing something near it.
- How are the tonal steps built?
- Each run starts from one tested base. The shades add 25%, 50% and 75% black to it; the tints drop the ink to 75%, 50% and 25%. That gives you seven values that belong together, so hierarchy inside one hue never needs a second colour.
- Are these an official colour standard?
- These are our own house recommendations, set for the papers we print on. They are not a published colour standard and are not affiliated with any colour system.