Spot vs. Process Colors
Print proofs for review on the ink mixing table.
Since the ‘90s, digital printing made full-color the default for short-run printed materials.
It makes sense. For nearly a century, full-color printing was prohibitively expensive, and suddenly it was available to nearly anyone, anywhere looking to print a dozen to a hundred copies of something.
How does it work?
Full-color printing is produced by using four inks, the same four inks every time. Those four inks are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Shortened to CMYK. Oftentimes, full-color printing is referred to as process or CMYK.
Direct mail was a great use for digital printing. A full-color piece with variable printing for the address allowed mailboxes the world over to get stuffed with glossy, full-color mailers across the land.
Full-color became ubiquitous. What was once premium was now everywhere.
Read more about how to make the call on digital or offset printing.
Spot Colors: Offset to Differentiate
Cost is a constraint that just about every project must work within. And short runs make it challenging to consider offset printing.
Close-up of a boundary 2 cover with spot colors.
However, one overlooked advantage of offset printing is the ability to run spot color jobs—especially single- or two-color designs—which can mitigate cost concerns and create a unique visual voice. Let’s dive in.
Spot Color Inks Lower Costs
While offset is associated with high costs, using just one or two spot colors instead of full-color can bring pricing close to digital—especially on larger quantities. For organizations with a defined palette, this can offer the perfect balance of quality and budget.
Two spots colors used in offset printing for these gift certificates.
Spot color usage allows you to lean on your paper stocks as well to make your message stand out.
More Dynamic Range
Spot color inks can achieve colors outside of what’s available within the constraints of process printings gamut. Why? Because spot-color inks are mixed from a variety of more than just those four CMYK inks. PMS uses more than a dozen inks to mix the lot more.
Here are a few of the inks used to mix the thousands of colors in the system:
Transparent White: A translucent base to let the paper tone shine through—and yes, we’re going to work on a post about paper stock choice as well.
Opaque White: A dense white that provides coverage, super useful on dark paper stocks.
Pantone Purple: A balanced violet base.
Pantone Violet: Pantone Purples’s goth sibling. (Darker and moodier than standard purple.)
Pantone Green: A versatile, cool-toned green.
Pantone Orange 021: Bold? Industrial? Yes. A shame to use this as a mixer?
Pantone Red 032: Think firetruck red.
Pantone Bright Green: A bright neon-adjacent introduced in later expansions.
Look, right at the top. There are two “white” inks available. Imagine the colors you can make from these.
And we’ve not even touched on metallic ink options.
Close-up of a duotone boundary 2 cover. This example shows that printing in only two colors can still achieve quite a lot of depth.
Spot Colors Reinforce Brand Consistency
Do you have a standout color in your brand identity palette? Offset printing with spot color inks will nail it. It’s the best way to keep your materials aligned across print runs, vendors, and time.
Spot Colors Cut Through the Noise
In a world saturated with full-color printing, a well-executed single-color or duotone piece can feel intentional. Maybe even elevated. In some ways, it’s a throwback to editorial and art-book aesthetics. It’s the kind of thing that can make an invitation, annual report, or direct mail feel curated. These pieces stand out exactly because they’re opinionated about not trying to be everything at once.
We often guide clients toward one- or two-color offset jobs when they want something minimalist, distinctive, and cost-effective—without sacrificing the presence or permanence that offset delivers.
If your job is too small for offset to be cost-effective, we can emulate that two-color look with process as well.
We’ve guided many clients through the nuances of print production. Whether we’re overseeing a short-run of business cards or a 30,000-piece direct mail campaign, we choose the right print method to match each project’s goals, timeline, budget, and environmental priorities.
Ready? Let’s get started.
