Go to Previous Slide Go to Next Slide

Our Services

  • Offset Printing
    Offset Printing

    Annual reports are a direct reflection of your company. Be sure yours say "professional" and "trustworthy." We'll deliver exactly what your business needs to make the right impression at the right time.

  • Digital Printing
    Digital Printing

    A big area calls for a big statement. And that's exactly what we deliver with every banner we print.

  • Ad Specialty
    Ad Specialty

    With professional design and printing, our brochures are sure to sell. From the big idea to the small details, our team has years of experience to get the job done.

  • Mailing Services
    Mailing Services

    Your business card is a direct reflection of your company. Don't settle for plain paper and dull designs when we can create cards that will leave a lasting impression.

  • Bindery Services
    Bindery Services

    Creating business forms can be a hassle—so why not let us handle it for you? We'll help you boost your brand's image with professionally designed business forms, purchase orders, invoices and more.

  • Design & Marketing
    Design & Marketing

    One of your most important selling tools may be a professionally printed catalog. We'll help you showcase your products in the best way possible with a high-quality catalog you'll be proud to distribute.

Don't settle for a professional,
when you need an expert.

PrintSouth Printing, Inc. is a full-service printing company in West Columbia, South Carolina, offering offset printing and digital printing capabilities. We offer custom die-cutting and foil services as well as multiple binding styles for booklets, both small and large. Additionally, we offer advertising specialty solutions allowing us to provide our clients a huge assortment of products including writing pens, banners, tote bags, t-shirts, corporate gifts, and crystal awards among other custom imprinted items. We team up with you to bring expert knowledge and experience to help make your brand stand out.

Our Services

  • Our large six color presses, with inline aqueous coating, can handle your print media projects. And our smaller two color offset presses take care of business stationery and other print materials.

  • Our digital presses are great for small quantity runs with a quick turnaround. With sizes up to 13x19 and inline finishing capabilities, your project will exit the press ready to go. We also provide variable data solutions for mailings or personalized postcards.

  • Don't go postal trying to figure out mailing regulations by yourself. We'll handle the mailing process for you, come rain or come shine. (Though we prefer shine.)

  • It's not over till it's over. In fact, the final step of a print project may be the most important. We'll make sure your project gets wrapped up with the most appropriate finishing and bindery methods available.

  • Personalization is hot right now. Click to see how we can help you achieve your goals with variable print data (VPD).

  • A big area calls for a big statement. And that's exactly what we deliver with every banner we print.

  • With bold designs and vivid color, we'll help you create great looking print material to make an instant impression.

January 22, 2018

Designing for Print: RGB vs CMYK

byWade Hook

The largest difference between print and digital media, is working in CMYK vs RGB. In this article, we will look at the differences of CMYK and RGB.

Definition
CMYK are the four inks used by offset printers and stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (the K comes from the term key plate, meaning black is the key to achieving a rich photo like print). RGB stands for Red, Green and Blue which are the colors that make up the electric diodes in television and monitors.

CMYK is a subtractive color model, meaning you add more ink colors to achieve black. Different ink colors absorb and reflect light in different wavelengths.

RGB is a additive color model, meaning the more RGB light beams added, the closer to white you will get. If no light is emitted, you will see black.

Color Gamut
A gamut is the complete range or scope of something. In digital and print design, a color gamut is the range of colors you can achieve using different color combinations like CMYK and RGB. An RGB color gamut is much larger than a CMYK color gamut, meaning you can achieve many more colors in RGB than you can in CMYK. This is why your design may look awesome on screen, but when printed it becomes muddied and dark. Some colors can not be reproduced using CMYK so when you convert the image from RGB to CMYK, some colors will lose their vibrance.


This graphic shows the visible spectrum we can see, the colors you can achieve using RGB, and colors achievable in CMYK.

With today’s wide format printers that have 12 ink colors, you can achieve a closer look to RGB images, but some of the brighter colors will still be off. In order to achieve the look you are striving for, it is best to do any work that will be printed in the CMYK color mode.

RGB Black vs CMYK Black
Many times we receive files that have black text in RGB. Unfortunately, when RGB black is converted to CMYK black, the outcome is a dull dark grey instead of solid rich black. This is because the RGB black (0,0,0 values), when converted, turns into a black build of 75C, 68M, 67Y and 90K. Any text that you have black needs to be 100% black and not built in RGB or CMYK. Large areas of black look best if you create a “rich black” color of 20% cyan, magenta, yellow and 100% black.

Your Best Option
New printing processes and inks are always being created and updated to reach a more natural look in offset printing. There are so many factors at play that man will never be able to reach the colors our eyes can perceive in nature and reproduce them on paper. Even the high resolution 4k and 5k monitors can not replicate all colors found in nature.

If you are using a Pantone spot color in your design, go ahead and convert it to CMYK if you are printing in process colors. Ripping software used by commercial printers, could alter the color depending on how the spot color is converted to CMYK. For best results, reference Pantone’s online color finder to see what CMYK values are needed for the color you are using.

Working in CMYK mode in Photoshop will give you the best printed outcome for your images, and all graphics should be created in CMYK when designed for print. If you are looking to have your images look more vibrant, consider printing on a coated sheet that allows the ink to sit on top of the paper and not sink in. Also, trained and talented press operators can adjust the colors when printing to add more “pop” to your images.

Stay up to date by subscribing to our mailing list.

Providing solutions to the problems you encounter.

"How do I export a high-resolution pdf file out of Adobe InDesign?"
Our employees are here to help YOU. If we don't know the answer, we will find it for you. Our online blog provides answers and additional insight into the world of commercial printing. You will also find design tips, program how to instructions, downloadable guides and links to other helpful topics within our blog.

We appreciate your visit and look forward to working with you.