Colors you see on screen will look differently to colors that have been printed out.

On screen

Colors on screen are based on the RGB color system. These colors are created by mixing 3 colors of light beams together - red, green, blue. RGB colors can only be displayed digitally on screens (e.g. computer monitors, smartphones) because they are made with light.

In print

Colors in print are usually based on the CMYK color system. These are process colors that are created by mixing 4 colors of ink together - cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). These are the exact same colors as the ink cartridges in your home or office printer!

In addition to CMYK, another popular color system is called PMS (Pantone Matching System) - or simply Pantone for short. These are spot colors and are pre-mixed ink that's primarily used for very specific brand colors (e.g. Tiffany's blue), and for colors that are difficult to create using CMYK (e.g. very bright colors, metallic colors). Pantone colors are more expensive than CMYK, and are ideal if you need consistent and accurate colors for every print run.

Screen & Software Differences

CMYK colors on screen vs in print

When designing your packaging on a dieline template using Adobe Illustrator, be sure to set the document color mode to CMYK. This will be the closest representation of colors that you see on screen vs what's actually printed. In Adobe Illustrator, there are also additional settings to adjust the color profiles of CMYK, all of which may look slightly different.

Important: although you may be viewing CMYK mode on screen, these are still colors that are created by light, meaning that CMYK on screen will look different to CMYK that's been printed.

Screen & software differences

By simply adjusting the brightness, contrast, or applying a night-mode filter to your device, colors will instantly look different. There will also be differences across device types and models - colors will look slightly different on an iPhone vs a Lenovo laptop vs a TV.