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Nimeshi706

: Why would home printers work better with an RGB image In @Scott's answer to this question Best format to save Photoshop artwork for printing?, he states that most home printers will more accurately

@Nimeshi706

Posted in: #ColorConversion #ColorProfile #ColorReproduction #PrintProduction

In @Scott 's answer to this question Best format to save Photoshop artwork for printing?, he states that most home printers will more accurately reproduce the colors from an RGB image than a CMYK image.

However, all of the inkjet and laser printers that I have ever used at home use CMYK inks/toners. So, I would think that using CMYK colors would result in more accurate color reproduction.

Assuming Scott is correct (and based on his reputation and profile, I completely believe he is), why would printers with CMYK colors be more accurate when converting from an RGB color profile?

After reading the response mentioned in Scott’s comment, I want to clarify what I am asking slightly.

Why in the heck doesn’t a printer that uses CMYK simply use the percentages of each ink as specified in the file that it is printing? Assuming I could configure my design software and monitor to match a (hypothetical) color profile provided by the printer manufacturer, it would seem more efficient for the printer to simply use the specified percentages for each ink color. So why doesn’t printing on a desktop printer work that way?

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@Cugini998

Because consumers are most likely using programs like Word, browser, etc. that have no idea what CMYK is. Alternatively, they are making hard copies of photos which also are RGB by default and simple image manipulation software again do not know what CMYK is.

There is then no advantage for the printer designer to design the printer to support CMYK, in fact its a clear disadvantage. See in consumer space such things as ease of use and vivid images is more important than controllability, repeatability and uniform design. So they skip this phase. This allows them to use much wider gamut to begin the process and use novel ink setups.

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