Curated CMYK greens
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.
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.
28 tonal runs · 196 builds
Dark → light, left to rightPPC-081
PPC-089
PPC-016
PPC-051
PPC-086
PPC-013
PPC-048
PPC-083
PPC-010
PPC-018
PPC-045
PPC-053
PPC-088
PPC-015
PPC-050
PPC-085
PPC-012
PPC-047
PPC-082
PPC-090
PPC-017
PPC-052
PPC-087
PPC-014
PPC-049
PPC-084
PPC-011
PPC-046
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-081 on Hyacinth Cotton · 48pt
PPC-081 on Hyacinth Cotton · 48pt is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 10/0/55/40 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The ivory 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-081 on Gmund Cotton Gentlemen Blue
PPC-081 on Gmund Cotton Gentlemen Blue is uncoated, so the dots gain: the same 10/0/55/40 build prints a step darker and duller than it looks on screen. That softness is usually the reason to choose this sheet. The saturated cornflower blue 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-081 on Silk matte 16pt
PPC-081 on Silk matte 16pt is sealed, so the build lands close to 10/0/55/40 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 combinationCommon questions
- Do these greens 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 greens?
- 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.