When you open Illustrator or Photoshop to create a new file, one of the first things the program is going to ask you will be the Color Mode that you wish to use in your design. The two options you’ll be able to see will be: RGB or CMYK.

Well then, let’s see what these acronyms mean.

R = Red G = Green B = Blue

C = Cyan M = Magenta Y = Yellow K = Black

As you can see, the primary colors used in RGB are not the same as the ones used for CMYK. This means that if you want to generate a specific color that you wish to use, different color mixtures will take place.

The RGB is the format used in any screen. This means that if you want to create a design for TV viewers or Computer viewers you need to work in this format. On the other hand, if you are going to have your design printed you should use the CMYK color mode. If you don’t do this like that, you’ll notice when trying to print a design made in RGB, the colores that show up on your monitor will differ a lot from the ones printed out on paper.