What is the impact of monochrome black and four-color black on printing

For designers, there is no way to avoid such technical problems, except to make the most direct choice to avoid them altogether: simply do not fill the text with four-colored black. What is more, the entire design draft can not appear four colors of black.

Is it necessary to completely eliminate four shades of black?

No, and I don't have to. The use of four-color black does have hidden dangers, but the problem is not so serious, but it is demonized by a group of old masters who know half the solution.

Let's first take an example to refute, in Adobe Illustrator, the authoritative graphic design software, in the basic color palette, defined a color called CMYK green, as shown in the figure:

CMYK green has a color value of C-100 M-0 Y-100 K-0, which means only cyan and yellow are used. Do cyan and yellow necessarily line up because there are only two copper plates? It is safe to say that if four pieces of copper are not aligned, two pieces will be equally aligned.

Whether you are "four-color black" or "two-color green" or "three-color green", as long as there is more than 1 ink, there is bound to be a problem of inconsistency. According to the "four colors of black" can not be used logic, not all colors can not be used?

The reason why only four colors of black are demonized is because of three points:

Most of the works contain text, and the text is mostly black.

The text is small in size and fine in line, at least compared to the graphics on most works.

Because of the need to read, people observe the text more carefully.

It is such a common problem in printing that it has been buckled on the head of four black colors.

When can I use four shades of black?

Although the text with four-color black will appear "fuzzy" problem, replaced by other plate colors are also common, but monochrome black is definitely not a problem.

If the text uses a monochromatic black such as C-0 M-0 Y-0 K-100, or a gray such as C-0 M-0 Y-0 K-80, there is no problem of mismatching because the ink required for the text only appears on one copper plate. In other words, if conditions permit, the text should be small and monochromatic black.

In other cases, four-color black is not too taboo. For example, if the title text is relatively large, you can use four-color black in the title, and use monochrome black in the body. While you may not be able to tell the difference in color at once, you can feel the extra weight of the title.

In other cases, such as using four shades of black for illustration (not diagrams), making shadows, etc., there is not necessarily a problem. As long as the four-color black is avoided for a more delicate path, the plate error will not have much impact.

In general, in order to avoid the negative effects of four colors of black, the best way is to avoid using it in the text and other places that should not be used. The script of "four-color black to one-color black" circulating on the Internet is not reliable, this change does not make sense, and may change the effect of the work.

As long as it is used properly, four-color black is undoubtedly the best black.