Colorspace DeviceRGB QuarkXPress

Brief Description

Device RGB - the default color space for device contexts, consists of the arbitrary set of colors (Red, Green, Blue) for the specified output device. Logical color values in this space are given as three 8-bit color values (in a 32-bit value) and are sent to the device driver without transformation.

RGB colors are called additive colors because you create white by adding R, G, and B together—that is, all light is reflected back to the eye. Additive colors are used for lighting, television, and computer monitors. Your monitor, for example, creates color by emitting light through red, green, and blue phosphors.

What your issue is

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In the case of DeviceRGB you have selected what is called an "Additive" color space and like a computer monitor it has a broad spectrum of valid colors. On the other hand the color printing process uses a "Subtractive" color space and it has a far more restrictive spectrum of valid colors. This means that your RGB colored items may very likely have colors that simply can not be reproduced by a printing press and therefore the final printed piece may not match very closely with what you see on screen.

How to fix this issue

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By converting your images and other artwork elements into CMYK color space then you will be able preview the colors on your monitor more closely to how they will look when printed. This will prevent the situation where you order printed goods based on RGB and are not happy with the final product that you will receive in CMYK.

More details

For correct printing you need to create your design using CMYK color space (the best way) or convert RGB to the CMYK:

Use the following menu options: Edit/Edit Colors/Show Colors in Use/Highlight Color and click Edit. Change model to CMYK and deselect Spot color.

References:

The device-dependent color spaces in PostScript: DeviceRGB, DeviceCMYK and DeviceGray

RGB to CMYK