C5500n User’s Guide
Color Matching • 166
Color Matching
Factors that Affect Color Printing
Monitor Colors vs. Printer Colors
(Differences between the range of colors
a monitor or printer can reproduce)
Neither a printer nor a monitor can reproduce the full range of
colors seen by the human eye.
Each device is limited to a certain range of colors.
•A printer cannot reproduce all of the colors displayed on
a monitor.
•A monitor cannot reproduce all of the colors printed by a
printer.
Both devices use very different technologies to represent
color.
•A monitor uses Red, Green and Blue (RGB) phosphors (or
LCDs).
•A printer uses Cyan, Yellow, Magenta and Black (CMYK)
toner or ink.
Very vivid colors (such as intense reds and blues) can be
displayed on a monitor. These same colors cannot be easily
produced on any printer using toner or ink.
There are certain colors (for example, some yellows), that can
be printed, but cannot be displayed accurately on a monitor.
These differences between monitor colors and printer colors
are the main reasons why printed colors do not always match
the colors displayed on screen.