Converting colors CMYK

[Stacey K]

I'm trying to match ink colors for shirts. They send me a vector file with CMYK. The colors look weird. I convert it to RGB - they still look weird. She said it's purple and light blue. They look purple and teal. I asked if they had a Pantone color I could quick match to. She has her designer email me a huge email telling me to unlock all the layers and the pantone color will appear. Well, it's still just CMYK and how am I supposed to match the ink up if the screen colors are off?

Is it possible I'm having a mental issue here and way over thinking this?

 

[JBurton]

She said it's purple and light blue. They look purple and teal.

Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (Anas crecca)—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used colloquially to refer to shades of cyan in general.

Teal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah, relax, if the designer won't tell you the pms value, then you have to assume he has the correct cmyk values as he intended, so color rendering is his responsibility at this point. My money is on them not knowing what teal is.

 

[chester215]

I don't think it works with vector files but https://imagecolorpicker.com/en has saved me a few times with JPEG or other files that you may be able to convert it to.

Wouldn't it have been easier for the designer to just give you the PMS color rather than trying to explain how to disassemble the file?

 

[Stacey K]

Thanks guys! I think instead of picking out a nice Pantone color from the guide they just start designing in CMYK and assume the print and screen colors are the same. Drives me nuts!

 

[Boudica]

I'm trying to match ink colors for shirts. They send me a vector file with CMYK. The colors look weird. I convert it to RGB - they still look weird. She said it's purple and light blue. They look purple and teal. I asked if they had a Pantone color I could quick match to. She has her designer email me a huge email telling me to unlock all the layers and the pantone color will appear. Well, it's still just CMYK and how am I supposed to match the ink up if the screen colors are off?

Is it possible I'm having a mental issue here and way over thinking this?

Nope - the lady is making it overcomplicated for you. Lazy customers are the bane of my existence. I've had way too many this week.

 

[Johnny Best]

Unless your computer monitor is set to match PMS colors you will not see true colors. Print a small sample on your printer and see how it looks.

 

[signheremd]

You can try this tool to convert CMYK to Pantone (or other formats):

CMYK to Pantone - Color Converter

This color tool can find the Pantone color equivalent for a CMYK process color without using a PMS color book.

www.ginifab.com

 

[gnubler]

"Looks good on my screen."

I'm sure their last printer never had this problem.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Run it.