Can't brighten CMYK colors

[Susan Bilheimer]

I'm graphically challenged, so please excuse me if this is really dumb. I'm creating a logo to be printed on products. It must be in CMYK. I have Adobe 5.5. No matter what I do, the color is flat and dull. Is there a setting I need to adjust??? I see bright print all over the place. So what am I doing wrong??? Thanks, Susan

[Ken Nielsen •]

In case you think that the human eye cannot be conditioned to 'frame of reference,' here is a good example:

<http://www-bcs.mit.edu/people/adelson/checkershadow_illusion.html>

[Eric Purkalitis]

I'd work in RGB as much as you can, then switch to CYMK when you're done. Under the view menu you can select a CYMK preview. Some colors will dull more than others. You could try playing with the levels, curves, and saturation. There are so many ways to adjust the colors in PS.

Be sure to check the gamut warning under the view menu too. It will highlight colors which can't be printed in cymk. Also in your color selector, you might notice a triangle with an exclamation point. This indicates your selected color won't print in CYMK and shows you the nearest one which will.

Lot's of people have recommendations for PS books, one of my favorites has nothing to do with PS, it's international paper's Pocket Pal.

[LenHewitt]

Susan,

>>I see bright print all over the place. <<

Those may be 'spot' colours you are comparing to. As others have already
told you, there are many colours that just cannot be printed using CMYK
inks - especially very saturated blues and greens. This is why Pantone inks
exist, to add those colours that cannot be obtained by the CMYK Process
inks.

When working in CMYK, Photoshop will only display those colours that the
selected CMYK profile tells Photoshop are available on the output device.