CMYK

This is the widely used plastic card printing method to achieve full colour printing. It is also known as Process, 4 Colour Process or Full Colour Process. It uses only four ink colours: Cyan (C), Magenta (M), Yellow (Y) and Black (K) layed down on the paper as dots which combine to create the illusion of other colours. If you look at any piece of print under a magnifying glass you will notice a matrix of tiny dots of the four colours.

Spot colours

Spot colours are true colours which are pre-mixed to the colour required rather than achieved through a process method on the plastic. They are much punchier than process colours and can either be printed on their own (for single or two colour jobs) or printed in addition to CMYK (resulting in a 5 or 6 colour print). It all comes down to cost at the end of the day though, as the number of colours used can potentially be endless.

Pantone® colours

These are spot colours from the international ink colour matching system from the company called Pantone®. They are designed to allow people in the design and printing industries to specify and match specific colours in the printing process. They are sometimes known as PMS colours (Pantone® Matching System). They can also be created using the CMYK printing process but rarely come out exactly the same colour as in the Pantone® Matching System. Pantone also provide colour specifically for different types of paper and coatings so that a consistent colour can be achieved across a range of products.

Metallic inks

These are spot colours that have a metallic constituent in the ink, giving a shiny quality to a range of colours from Pantone®.

Hexachrome® colours

By using six colors instead of the standard four in CMYK, it is possible to expand the spectrum on a full colour print job. This system has been developed by Pantone® and results in a bigger visual impact. However, there are higher costs involved due to the extra inks and plates.