You might think you know red from orange — but does your press?
Does your customer?
Does your team?
Color in print is more than just matching swatches , it’s anatomy, lighting, pigment, perception, and math. In this episode of The Print University, Pat McGrew and Ryan McAbee break down the building blocks of color theory in plain language, showing how color perception works, why it changes, and what that means for print shops today.
Whether you’re in sales, prepress, or on the floor, this is foundational knowledge that impacts every project.
Highlights include:
- Why human vision makes color matching tricky — and how color blindness and aging eyesight affect perception.
- How different light sources (warm vs cool, LED vs daylight) change how we see the same color.
- A walk through the history of color theory, from Aristotle to ICC profiles, and why Munsell’s book still matters.
- What every designer should know when switching between RGB, CMYK, and Pantone.
- How substrates, ink formulas, and manufacturer variations can throw your colors off — and how to spot the differences.
You’ll also learn how tricks of the eye can fool you — and what tools (like light booths and spectrophotometers) can help you get it right.
Are you a PIA MidAmerica Member? Watch the full episode now on MidAmerica U and bring clarity to the most misunderstood element in print: color
