If you have printed stickers, or came across online images, you’ll be seeing some familiar terms that might have something to do with colors — CMYK, RGB, HEX and PANTONE. While these terms seem difficult to understand, it is essential to know them as they come up often in both digital and print media. For example, the CMYK color code is often used for printing, while RGB color code is often used on the web. At Hellosticker, we’ll talk about these terms (called color codes), and explain their uses and how they work in the world of computers.

PANTONE (Spot Color)

The Pantone color code is mainly for printing. This color code (also called spot colors), are actually standardized inks created by the Pantone company. This is so that brands out there can have consistent colors when it comes to printed mediums. Furthermore, PANTONE colors are also important for specific printing methods. At Hellosticker, some of our stickers require PANTONE code to print, such as our roll stickers.

To get the PANTONE code, you opt to convert them by using the Illustrator program, or convert the codes online. In terms of how they look, PANTONE codes consist of the word “PANTONE'' with a few letters plus digits behind it. There are different kinds of Pantone codes as it highly depends on what and how you use them for printing. 

*Note: Vector format is required when using PANTONE codes

CMYK (Process or Full Color)

CMYK color code is also used for printing. This color type is achieved by superimposing a series of dots in the four colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, & blacK) to produce various color results. CMYK is mainly used in most print industries, our stickers are printed using CMYK as well. In case you want to know how to convert colors to CMYK, you can check out our previous blog. 

Visually, CMYK comes with the 4 color acronyms and 1-3 digit numbers behind them.

RGB 

RGB color code is widely used in the world of computers. In your screen, RGB is rendered with the mixture of Red, Green and Blue (thus called RGB). In other words, they are not used for printing. You can read our other blog if you need more information about RGB. 

Visually, RGB comes with the 3 color acronyms and 1-3 digit numbers behind them.

HEX 

HEX color code is widely used in web design. Technically, the code is considered an “alternative” from the RGB code. Basically the RGB and HEX code are more or less the same thing, which means HEX is also not meant for printing. 

HEX code comes in 6 characters, with combination between letters and also numbers, they’re also accompanied by a hash symbol (#). 

Wrap Up

In short, the PANTONE color and CMYK color codes are used for printing, while RGB color and HEX color codes are used for digital media. Hopefully, the given information can help out in your knowledge of printing and computers. 

If you’re already familiar with the color codes already, try printing with us and check out the various types of stickers we offer!