What is Color Separation?

It is the process of splitting photographs or any digital artwork into two or more colors. Generally, they are separated into four distinct layers of colors, ie CMYK, the colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (Black). Each of these layers is separately utilized for color-process printing

The Types Of Color Separations

Designers and screen printers use plenty of separation techniques according to the needs and requirements of their projects. All of these techniques are complexed, therefore, it’s mandatory for any every designer to know the four basic types of color separations. These are mentioned below.

Spot Color

It may not be an overstatement when it’s claimed that the spot color is the most common form of color separation that is used in making vector art. In offset printing, it’s the technique where ink is utilized for color printing on a single run. The separation technique of spot color is generally created in CorelDraw or Illustrator.

Color Process

The color process or four-color process technique uses a subtractive color model that includes four key colors, ie cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black), CMYK. Subtractive in a sense that ideal CMYK inks subtract the RGB colors from the white light. That results in leaving only the color of CMYK.  

Simulated-process Color

Although both of conventional four color process and simulated-process color are created in Photoshop. The difference is that it’s the advanced CMYK model that consists of the conventional four-color process. The technique used in the simulated-color process is consist of a diverse range of colors for creating highly detailed photographs. They produce high-quality images and much more photorealistic than the conventional four-color process.

Index Color

Unlike color process that uses halftone dots to make color shading and images, index color uses square pixels. The main purpose of adopting this technique is to manage and organize digital images in a way that would save up space and computer memory. Therefore, they are most commonly used nowadays in personal computers for obvious reasons. Moreover, the process of color separation is made in Photoshop that can be exported to other image creating programs (CorelDraw or Illustrator) effortlessly.