CMYK vs RGB and ICC Profiles Explained

CMYK vs RGB and ICC Profiles Explained

Colour plays a critical role in the AEC industry. Colour can help readers interpret anything from blueprints to AEC presentation boards with more insight. Technical drawings associate specific meanings with each colour, and AEC presentation boards rely on colour accuracy to faithfully reflect digital designs, materials, and lighting. Whether you're preparing environmental diagrams, architectural renders, or engineering visuals, the colour mode you choose affects clarity, consistency, and print quality. Understanding the details of CMYK vs RGB printing is crucial to avoiding washed-out colours, unexpected shifts, or pixelation on large format sheets.

If colour inconsistencies are affecting your AEC prints, there are ways to improve colour output for accurate prints. Here, we'll explain the differences in CMYK vs RGB printing, the role of ICC profiles in colour-reliable output, and how to size pixels correctly for large-format AEC presentations. You can also learn how HP DesignJet printers support colour consistency, helping Philippine AEC professionals produce high-impact presentation-ready boards.

Why Colour Accuracy Matters for AEC Presentation Boards

Different monitors, printers, ink types, and paper types can alter the presentation of colours, impacting the accuracy of presentation boards. Over-saturated hues, poor lighting representation, or washed-out images can detract from the effectiveness of a design. Understanding AEC presentation board printing best practices and knowing when to use CMYK vs RGB printing can help you avoid these issues and produce presentation boards that meet client expectations.

Clear, Professional Output for Client Reviews

AEC presentation boards are increasingly becoming an expected part of every architectural sales package. Colour accuracy for these presentations is crucial to achieving customer satisfaction and winning bids.

Consistent Colours Across Multiple Sheets

Architectural boards are composed of multiple photos, drawings, and images of material samples. Accurately conveying the expectations of a project depends on colour consistency across images. Colours that change across mediums or in different images can disrupt flow, changing the viewer's perception of the potential outcome. The right colour profile eliminates these issues, producing consistency that AEC professionals can rely on.

CMYK vs RGB for Large Format AEC Printing

CMYK and RGB are colour codes used in producing digital images and physical prints. Choosing between CMYK vs RGB printing can have a substantial impact on colour accuracy upon printing.

When to Use RGB for Digital Layouts

RGB (red, green, blue) is ideal for displaying architectural plans on a screen. It allows users to take full advantage of a wider gamut of colours than CMYK, including the use of intense highlights, vibrant gradients, and light effects. RGB's vibrant hues are perfect for glowing screens, producing accurate digital images.

Why CMYK Is Best for Final Printed Output

CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) is ideal for printing physical architectural plans and accurate images. While it doesn't have the wide colour gamut of RGB, it produces accurate colour representations in physical prints. CMYK uses a subtractive colour model to subtract light from a white background to accurately mask colours on a light background (like paper).

ICC Profiles and Their Role in Accurate Printing

ICC profiles are tools that help standardise colours across devices, making the CMYK vs RGB printing debate easier to manage. They support accurate printing by ensuring the images you print are consistent with the images you see on screen.

What ICC Profiles Do

An ICC profile is a file that contains information about the properties of the colours used in a print. It provides your printer with the information necessary to ensure accurate and consistent colour results upon printing across different media.

Matching Profiles to Your Printer and Media

Digital images and graphics all have their own ICC profiles. To ensure the image you intend to use is displayed accurately, you must match the ICC profile of the image with the monitor and input the ICC profile into the computer's operating system.

Pixel and Resolution Guidelines for Technical Posters

Resolution also plays a significant role in print colour by determining the detail and the smoothness of colour transitions. For example, a higher resolution uses more pixels to produce richer, more accurate colours. However, using unnecessarily high print resolutions can slow down the process and increase ink usage.

Recommended Pixel Sizes for A1 and A0

Pixel size, commonly called pixel density, refers to the number of pixels contained in one inch of a digital image. It is measured in pixels per inch (PPI) and describes digital resolution.

Poster size pixels refer to the recommended PPI for ideal resolution in common poster sizes. Small print jobs require resolution as high as 300 PPI. But large format prints expected to be viewed from a distance can have lower resolutions of around 150 PPI.

DPI Requirements for Sharp Diagrams and Renders

Dots per inch (DPI) refers to the number of ink dots a printer places on a page per inch. Higher DPI produces more saturated colours and sharper lines and images. Large format printing resolution should be set at a minimum of 100 DPI. Smaller prints require an average of 300 DPI. Choosing your ideal resolution depends on the distance people will be standing from the images and the goal of the print.

Preparing AEC Files for Reliable Colour Output

Preparation is key to avoiding unpleasant surprises during the printing process. Starting with the right colour mode and checking for errors before clicking print helps teams avoid costly errors.

Setting the Correct Colour Mode Before Export

Professionals often use RGB when viewing digital images. It produces the most vibrant colours in that scenario. However, RGB is rarely recommended for printing on paper, as it produces dull colours on light surfaces. Users should generally convert designs to CMYK before sending them to print.

Verifying Colour and Sharpness in Print Preview

Modern printer features allow professionals to check for errors before printing. Use print preview to ensure colour modes and resolution are at the desired levels before printing.

How HP DesignJet Delivers Colour-Accurate Large Format Prints

HP DesignJet printers, including the T850, T870, Z9+ PostScript, and T650, are ideal for creating AEC presentation boards. They offer sharp lines, vibrant colours, fast speeds, and media flexibility.

Built-In Colour Calibration

HP DesignJet printers and plotters use colour calibration to produce consistent colours with the specific printheads, inks, and paper type. This colour consistency can even be preserved across particular environmental conditions. After performing colour calibration, users can expect to get identical prints from any two different printers in different geographical locations. Colour calibration is recommended:

• When introducing a new paper type
• After replacing a printhead
• When environmental conditions change
• When the printer has been turned off for a long time

Predictable Output for Technical Boards

Key features in HP DesignJet series blueprint printers, such as colour calibration, accurate hardware, powerful processing, and media versatility, ensure consistent, error-free large format printing. Technical drawings, exploded views, and diagrams are a vital part of professional presentation boards. HP DesignJet printers consistently deliver precision in line weights, colour clarity, text legibility, and character acutance, to produce predictable output for these crucial prints.

Produce Professional, Colour-Accurate Presentation Boards

Generally, AEC professionals won't need to choose between CMYK vs RGB printing for physical prints used on presentation boards. CMYK is almost always the best choice for physical printing output.

Your wide format printer also plays a critical role in producing colour-accurate presentation boards. HP DesignJet printers are ideal for delivering large format prints for all your AEC needs. Contact the large format printing experts at HP to learn more about how we can help you achieve accurate colour and resolution for professional presentation boards.