How to Ensure Accurate Colours When Printing Custom Stickers

The accuracy of colours in printed stickers is crucial whether you use them for your brand, personal projects, or events.

In fact, achieving accurate colours is a great advantage to creating a professional and attractive product.

Aside from colours, other elements in the design also play an essential role in conveying the message effectively.

According to Adobe, colour influences how people feel about a product, how to interpret a message, or how to make decisions. They interpret colours and ascribe meaning to them.

Poor colour representation can ruin the look of a sticker, and your brand may appear inconsistent.

This could also result in washed-out, dull, and mismatched shades, leaving the stickers futile.

So, how can you ensure that your stickers turn out precisely as you envisioned them?

In this blog, we will explore how to ensure accurate colours when printing custom stickers for excellent results.

Let us dive deeper!

Know the Difference Between RGB and CMYK

 

Knowing the difference between RGB and CMYK colour modes can save you from many troubles. Confusing the two or using them interchangeably can lead to inaccurate colours in printing. Understanding how these modes work is crucial for ensuring accurate colour representation.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue): This colour mode is commonly used for digital screens. These include televisions, smartphones, monitors, and cameras that display RGB colours. RGB is not and will never be appropriate for printing because printers do not use light to create colours.

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black): CMYK colour mode is the most recommended printing method. These four colours are mixed in varying amounts to produce the full spectrum of shades. When designing your stickers, the mode is set to RGB. Be sure to convert the design into CMYK before heading to a sticker printing shop to achieve accurate printed sticker colours.

Calibrate Your Monitor

 

One of the best ways to ensure the colours you see on the screen match closely to what will be printed is by calibrating your monitor. You need a monitor calibrating tool that allows you to adjust the colour settings on your monitor to reflect true colours.

An appropriate calibration ensures that the colours on the screen are close enough to what will be printed. 

Never set the brightness too high, as it can give you an unrealistic view of your design. Instead, lower the monitor's brightness to about 50% when preparing print designs. This can give you a more accurate colour representation once printed.

Depend on a Trusted Sticker Printing Shop

 

Printing in the comfort of your home or office might be ideal and inexpensive. Little did you know, this can be more costly in the long run, especially if the result fails to meet your expectations. Depending on a trusted sticker printing company, instead, is highly recommended.

Most use state-of-the-art equipment to ensure every printed tool is accurate, especially the colours, materials, sizes, shapes, cutting styles, and finishes. Based on your expectations, the result will also come off as professional.

Pick High-Quality Materials

 

Choosing the appropriate sticker material is crucial in how colours will appear, and it affects the final result of your sticker. Every material absorbs ink differently. To be precise, consider the following:

Matte vs. Glossy vs. Uncoated Finish: Matte finishes tend to mute colours but give a luxurious and elegant touch. While glossy can make colours appear more vibrant and has a much more striking appearance on your design. Uncoated or a no-coat finish has a semi-glossy effect but is excellent for writing while aiming for a deluxe appeal.

Vinyl-Based Stickers: Vinyl sticker material is one of the best options as it produces high-quality colour results. This is durable, weatherproof, UV-resistant, and resistant to fading. They remain vibrant whether used indoors or outdoors.

Paper-Based Stickers: Paper stickers are cost-effective but can produce less vibrant colours depending on their finishes. While this material is much cheaper, some paper stickers are off-white, and there will be a colour gap.

Pro tip: Always ask for a sticker sample pack before placing a bulk order to see how a specific material will look like.

Use Vector Files for Crisp and Sharpness

 

The clarity and sharpness of the design can affect the perceived colour quality when printing custom stickers. Pixelated designs are bound to distort colours, especially when adjusted to a larger size.

Vector Files: We recommend that you use vector files or your designs. These formats, including SVG, EPS, or PDF, ensure that your design scales without affecting colour accuracy or losing clarity.

High-Resolution Images: If you use raster images (JPG or PNG), make sure they are of high resolution to avoid pixelation that can compromise colour quality. The most recommended image resolution is 300 DPI or higher.

Pro tip: Using vector files for large stickers or stickers with intricate details is crucial for retaining colour quality and clarity.

Final Thoughts

Achieving accurate colours when printing custom stickers might be challenging, especially if you have no flair. But by understanding colour modes, picking the correct materials, calibrating the monitor, and more, rest assured your stickers will turn out exactly as you expected. Vibrant and precise colours make all the difference in making your custom stickers stand out. People will also recognise your brand instantly by consistently displaying your colour branding.