Preview how screen colors translate to print with CMYK simulation and proofing.
Type or pick the screen color you want to preview in print.
See how the color translates from RGB to CMYK for printing.
Compare the screen color with the simulated print output.
Print ink cannot reproduce everything a monitor can show. This tool converts a screen color to CMYK, the four process inks a commercial press uses, and soft-proofs the result: a printable swatch rendered on simulated paper white, with colors that fall outside the CMYK gamut flagged. The surprise is usually the direction of the change: bright, saturated screen colors print flatter, darker, and duller, because inks absorb light instead of emitting it. The conversion is also never absolute - the same RGB value separates differently on coated paper than on uncoated, and the preview is only as trustworthy as your display.
A concrete input and expected output from the current implementation.
Input
#FF0000
Expected output
C 0% - M 100% - Y 100% - K 0%, rendered as a soft-proof swatch
Pure red contains no cyan and no black component, so the separation keeps both at zero and puts all the color into magenta plus yellow - the classic process-red recipe that follows directly from the conversion.
A screen adds light, but ink removes it: cyan absorbs red, magenta absorbs green, yellow absorbs blue. The tool separates a color into the ink amounts that absorb the same wavelengths, then derives black from the darkest channel, so neutral grays print with black ink alone rather than a colored mix. A pure color like red converts to full magenta plus full yellow, with cyan and black at zero.
The printable CMYK gamut is smaller than a screen's, especially in saturated blues, greens, and oranges. Colors outside it cannot be reproduced, so the tool maps them to the nearest printable equivalent, which shifts their appearance. The soft proof then renders that equivalent on simulated paper white, including how ink spreads and darkens midtones in real printing, so what you see approximates the print result, not the screen original. The assumed paper type changes the numbers.
Usually not exactly. Bright saturated colors sit outside the printable CMYK gamut, so they print flatter, darker, and duller - the simulation shows roughly how much. If the color must be exact, choose an in-gamut equivalent and order a physical proof rather than trusting any screen.
No. The printer's system re-converts your color through its own profiles and press conditions, so the numbers are informative estimates, not instructions a press will follow literally. Ask which coated or uncoated press standard they run, and proof critical colors.
The example and behavioral notes were checked against the browser implementation. Standards and primary references below define the relevant format, formula, or platform behavior.
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