Four-Color Process

A printing method that uses tiny dots of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) ink to simulate the continuous tones and wide range of colors found in a color image. This process begins by separating the original image into four distinct halftones, each corresponding to one of the process colors.

• Color Separation: Specialized filters are used to create these halftones:
  • A red filter captures the cyan halftone.
  • A blue filter captures the yellow halftone.
  • A green filter captures the magenta halftone.

Because printing presses apply ink in fixed intensities, the four-color process uses an optical illusion to mimic light and dark areas. By varying the size and spacing of the halftone dots, it creates gradients and depth. When the dots for each color are printed and aligned correctly, our eyes blend them together to perceive continuous tones and the full range of colors, replicating the appearance of photographs, paintings, or other detailed artwork.

For related concepts, see: color separation, dots per inch, and halftone.