Curated CMYK blues
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.
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.
15 tonal runs · 105 builds
Dark → light, left to rightPPC-027
PPC-062
PPC-097
PPC-024
PPC-059
PPC-099
PPC-026
PPC-061
PPC-096
PPC-023
PPC-063
PPC-098
PPC-025
PPC-060
PPC-095
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.
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-027 on Gunmetal / antique metal
PPC-027 on Gunmetal / antique metal is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 85/100/0/5 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The dark cool grey, antiqued 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-027 on Wild Brown
PPC-027 on Wild Brown is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 85/100/0/5 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The warm chocolate brown 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-027 on Acquerello Avorio
PPC-027 on Acquerello Avorio is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 85/100/0/5 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The avorio, uncoated, felt-marked on both sides (watercolour-style 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 blues 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 blues?
- 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.