: Can you convert a neon RGB color to CMYK for printing? I have a logo that was done with RGB colors, now I have to work with this logo to do something for printing purpuses, the problem

@Tiffany317

You CAN print neon colors! It has to be a custom multi-layered screen print job for every individual color with a custom ink with fluorescent pigments in it. Beware they look very different in normal light compared to that of low-light, special UV light, blue temperature white light, etc., You can even add a transparent layer of this over whatever pigment you're using as well.

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@Tiffany317

A couple of points adding to Lauren's and e100's excellent answers:

1) A desktop printer is an RGB device, not CMYK. Although the inks most such printers use are the standard four, sometimes with additional inks (my Canon proofing printer adds a "photo cyan" "photo magenta" red and green for a total of eight), both the printer and the software that drives it are designed to look like an RGB device to your application. That means you should NOT convert to CMYK before printing, to get the best results. You should make sure that you are using photographic quality paper, preferably one made by the same manufacturer as the printer, and that you pick the correct color management options. Those options are a whole subject on their own, so I won't try to cover them here, but the printer manufacturer's website probably has good information on that subject.

2) Neon (or "Day-Glo") colors are not like ordinary inks or pigments. They actually reflect more visible light than falls on them. The "neon" part is a fluorescent dye that absorbs incoming ultra-violet light and turns that energy into a visible color such as green, yellow or magenta which it then emits. That's why they have that glow. Needless to say, your desktop printer doesn't take inks with fluorescent dyes.

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@Sims5801359

You state the problem correctly: "in the RGB version of the logo I have a shade of green I cannot reproduce with CMYK".

But you are not using the most saturated CMYK green you can: c63 m0 y96 k1 clearly has a small amount of black in it, and isn't fully saturated on any channel.

Start with c63 m0 y100 k0 and try different values of cyan.

If you were getting this printed on a press, I'd advise you get hold of a CMYK sample book to see how it'd print.

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@Speyer780

Short answer: you can't.

Technical answer:

RGB is additive. The more color (made of light) you add, the closer you get to white.

CMYK is subtractive. The more color (made of ink, which is reflective, which subtracts light) you add, the closer you get to black (or actually a muddy brown).

CMYK has a smaller range, or gamut, of colors it can reproduce than RGB does.

What you can do about it:

If you need that particular neon green to print, you'll need to find a spot neon color and specify that for your printer. That means the ink will be premixed to create that neon green, and will be laid on one plate, instead of mixing CMYK inks to achieve it. It will be a fifth color, and will cost extra.

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