When talking about tolerances for the reproduction of brand colors in print, you often hear just one number. Whether it’s 2, 3, or 4 dE00, it’s just one number. And we have to ask ourselves: is that a fair representation of the realities in print? Will printers always live up to the expectations of that one number? In some cases, that tolerance is not too difficult to achieve. But when print buyers make certain decisions, e.g., to save money, it can become a lot harder. And that’s why, IMO, the printing industry as a whole should embrace ‘expectation management’ for the reproduction of brand colors in print. Let’s take a closer look…
CONTENTS: Expectation Management | More and more variables, but still the same expectations? | Primary vs secondary brand colors | Why is this important?
Originally published: 13/12/2025 – Last update: 13/12/2025
In the old days, when printing in CMYK was still the exception, brand colors were always printed with spot inks. And that’s not that long ago, I remember those days. When I started in the printing industry, in the late 1980s, a four-color press was the exception, most printing was one or two colors. Even four-color jobs were printed on two- and single-color presses… And when printing a brand color with just one, dedicated ink, it is relatively simple to keep it within a reasonable tolerance: the variables are limited.
But nowadays the situation has changed. Four-color printing has become standard. And brand colors are now often reproduced with a standard set of colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black when printing in CMYK, or even 7 colors when moving to ECG (extended color gamut, like CMYK + Orange, Green, and Violet). And that makes a difference when talking about deviations in print and therefore tolerances. Print buyers, brand owners, and designers should be made aware of this: printing companies should embrace ‘expectation management’.
Here are the key takeaways from an article on expectation management:
- Expectation management is the process of effectively setting, communicating, and meeting stakeholder expectations in a project or professional setting.
- Successful expectation management leads to increased stakeholder satisfaction, improved project outcomes, and effective communication and collaboration.
- Tips for managing expectations include setting realistic expectations, maintaining transparency and open communication, managing change and adapting expectations, celebrating milestones and rewarding achievements, managing expectations in a team environment, and the role of leadership in expectation management.
- The continuous evaluation and adjustment of expectations are crucial for enhancing project outcomes and stakeholder satisfaction.
- Mastering expectation management requires the development of skills such as effective communication, collaboration, adaptability, and leadership.
More and more variables, but still the same expectations?
When printing the brand color with just one ink and as a solid, the variables are limited. Mainly the ink density and the ink / water balance, which are relatively easy to control. But variations are still possible: even temperature and relative humidity can influence the printing process and therefore the final brand color reproduction.
If the brand color is not a solid but a percentage (1 – 99%), you add new variables that can influence its reproduction… Not only on the printing press, but also in prepress: the printing plate production needs to be within similar tight tolerances. But most importantly: dot gain on the press.
Here is an overview generated by Google Gemini on which parameters and variables can influence dot gain. The image below shows the test elements on a corrugated package, printed with flexo. Especially the small percentages are an issue.
If you add a second ink, you introduce extra variables, and it gets more complicated. And something most people do not know: e.g., registration and the order of those colors will change the printed color. Yes, even if the dots on two samples are perfectly the same, but placed differently due to a registration issue, that can result in a different color (due to a different overlap). I didn’t know that when I started in the printing industry, but when giving a presentation on color, a senior press instructor at the local Heidelberg distributor pointed it out to me when I showed packages of cookies with a slightly different color (yes, already in those days I was into cookies).
In case you don’t believe me, check out this post by Paweł Nawrocki in the Print Production Professionals group on LinkedIn. He showed an example of a color shift due to a tiny registration error: 0,05 mm.
OK, this example uses lines, but it’s similar to dots. And it reminded me of a case some two decades ago: a packaging printer noticed an unacceptable color shift in a rather dark neutral grey with a very high TAC. The color shift was probably due to the press running hot, causing a minor shift in the registration of the printing plates: it was a warm July, they had no climate control in the press room, no cooling on the press (if I’m not mistaken) and the shift always started appearing after some 20.000 to 50.000 sheets and disappeared when the stopped the press for an hour or two…
I also checked this one, here’s what Google Gemini answered to the following question: Can registration errors on a printing press cause color shifts? What can be the root causes for those registration errors? And what do ISO standards say about registration errors?
When checking brand color guidelines, it’s not hard to find examples of CMYK combinations that will be difficult to print. Check, e.g., these examples from Trustpilot.
And this secondary will be fun… This 1% cyan is just absurd. You can not expect that this will be reproduced faithfully in print.
Added 13/12/2025 – 17:00 CET: this previous post clearly shows the difference between variations when printing with a spot color (left image below) or simulating a color in CMYK (right image).
And even switching the order of process inks (like four-color printing) will change the color. In the days when printing wasn’t as standardized as these days, Cyan and Magenta weren’t always in the same order. Sometimes it was KCMY, sometimes KMCY… And that does make a difference, resulting in a different color. This is called ink trapping, the following presentation from Sappi explains and shows it.
So, to conclude: the more inks you use in the simulation of a brand color, the more difficult it gets. Each ink added introduces variables, making it harder to keep it within tight tolerances. And yes, you do have companies (designers, brands) that use all four process inks, or other difficult-to-keep-constant simulations. And especially when some of those percentages are low – to get that little extra touch, e.g., in a near neutral – it gets tough. It’s not because you can see it on a screen, that it’s easy to print. E.g., adding a 1% or a 2% Magenta to a 90% K (black), might look interesting on your screen, but your printer will not be happy with that (and that’s an understatement). Especially not when they need to print on a rather rough substrate, or with an older flexo press with analog plates. Or when it needs to be reproduced with different printing technologies.
Here is an interesting example, from the Klarna brand color guide. The CMYK simulation of their Klarna Pink is: 0 / 41 / 1 / 0. And that 1% Yellow makes it very difficult. And most people with experience in printing will probably ask: “Why? Why do you want that 1%?”
In theory (meaning: when looking at the digital values in the background), having that 1% versus no Yellow is only a minor difference (< 1 dE00). But when going to print, with all its variables, that theoretical 1% could become a different percentage, which will show. Please check the most popular article on my blog!
Oh, and what do you think of the Pantone Color of the Year 2026, Cloud Danser? With the following CMYK values: 0 / 0 / 2 / 5? Either Pantone knows nothing about printing, or they just don’t care about printing anymore. This is NOT a color you should use in printing, not even when printed with a spot ink: the substrate color will have a significant influence on the final color perception. In case you haven’t seen it yet, below is a picture of the famous Flint Ink Color Quiz: it’s the same ink on multiple different substrates, it’s the substrate color that makes the difference.
Designers and brands should be aware of the influence of the substrate on the final color reproduction, this is part of the expectation management I mentioned in the introduction.
If you want to more about the different variables, last week I published an article on that on LinkedIn, with the answers I got from Google Gemini / Nano Banana on the one hand and Microsoft CoPilot when I asked them about the variables in brand color reproduction when printing in offset.
And also on LinkedIn, Carmon Madison provides insights on variables on a very regular basis. Do follow him!
Primary vs secondary brand colors
But it’s not only the simulation in CMYK or ECG we have to look at. As my friend dr. Kai Lankinen pointed out: we should also consider primary versus secondary versus tertiary (brand) colors. Should they be held to the same (tiny) tolerances? E.g., look at the package of Bahlsen cookies: the blue is their primary brand color, but that little red badge (top left) is part of their brand identity, but as a secondary color. Should that small red be within the same (tiny) tolerance as the blue?
If you say yes as a print buyer or brand owner, you should bear the consequences of that decision: it will be more difficult, take more time and consumables (like sheets of cardboard) to get it right and to keep it right. And that comes at a price. And you should be willing to pay that price: you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either you go cheap and accept larger tolerances, or you want tiny tolerances and pay the price. Again: crucial expectation management.
Dr. Kai Lankinen did two tests, both with special logos that are often found on FMCG packages, think certification logos. These are not exactly part of the brand identity of the FMCG company, but they do represent something that’s important enough to mention on the package. In his first study, he checked a logo with the brand color PMS 300C. In the second he looks at a green logo that can be found all over the EU: the EU Organic logo, a PMS 376C. Both logos are typically reproduced in a very small size on the package (similar to or smaller than the red logo in the Bahlsen example above).
His conclusion:
“IMO, the color tolerances can vary by object priority, e.g.:
– Priority-1: dE00<2,5
– Priority-2: dE00<5,0
– Priority-3: dE00<10,0 (or more)”
BTW: I wonder how many print buyers know the difference between deviation and variation tolerance, as specified in ISO standards? The first specifies the tolerance between the target and the approved OK sheet. The second between that approved OK sheet and the rest of the production run. So, you could have an OK sheet that is within the specified tolerance, and next all sheets of the production run within that tolerance versus the OK sheet. But that does not mean that every sheet is within that tolerance compared to the target value. When printing, the OK sheet became the target, not the original value.
Why is this important?
I often have the impression that too many people involved in making color decisions (brand owners, print buyers, designers, but also ‘color experts’ that only look at a color in a 3-dimensional Lab space), have no idea how color is reproduced in print and especially which variables you have when printing.
Deciding to go from a spot color to a brand color simulated in CMYK or ECG, because it’s cheaper, has consequences, especially when the simulation uses two or more inks. You can’t expect the same narrow deviations when switching from a spot color to a color that uses two or more screened inks: you’ve added extra difficulties.
To make an analogy: if you transport goods by van from Brussels to Paris (about 300 km), but at one point you decide to switch from vans to heavy-duty trucks, because the cost per ton-kilometer is lower, you have to accept the fact that the truck will take longer to drive that distance. If you switch from one spot color to a simulated brand color, you have to accept that you will see more variation: expectation management.
And if you are a brand owner and are terrified as hell that these variations will influence sales, I still haven’t seen any study that confirms this, even after a decade of explicitly asking people who state this urban legend. The (in)famous quote that is often referred to – color enhances brand recognition by 80% – is about the use of color (in general) in newspaper advertising, compared to just black/white. It’s not about tiny variations. The myth that tiny variations will influence sales is fearmongering by people selling color-related tools and services. If it would have influenced sales, Oreo would not have changed its logo (10 dE00 difference), and I would not have seen these two different blues in a shop, or this many variations of Coca-Cola red. And please, don’t forget: real life is not flat; it’s not evenly lit like a light booth. Which can make a huge difference in real life, in a shop. The idea that brand owners can and should control their brand color in every situation is nothing more than an illusion.
Expectation management, let’s embrace it, let’s make it our New Year’s resolution!
PS: Oreo changed their logo over a year ago, but I still see packages with the old logo in the supermarket. If a 10 dE00 color difference would hurt their sales, would they still use packages with the old logo?
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