Label print colors don't match my home printer

labels color different from printer

Today, let's talk about printing colors. Have you ever noticed the difference between the colors from your printer and the colors of the printed materials you ordered?

In conclusion, the printed materials you order from a printing company will not match the colors produced by your printer. Even with the same data, different printers will output different colors.

For example, in our office, we have printers from Xerox (now Fujifilm) and OKI, but the colors are different even when printing the same data.

The above were output using the same printing data. The left is a Xerox laser printer, and the right is an OKI laser printer. You can see that the Xerox colors are darker and more vivid. The difference is quite noticeable in person.

This is not about which manufacturer is better, but about conveying that colors differ depending on the printer manufacturer. Different manufacturers have different toner output distributions and pigments, so this is only natural.

Don't Mindset on Printer Colors

Now, let's get to the main point. Occasionally, we receive complaints saying, "The colors are completely different from my printer." This is a common issue faced by many printing companies. Customers tend to believe that the printed materials they order will come out in the same colors as their printer.

As mentioned earlier, even with the same printing data, the colors will differ if the printers are different. Moreover, when ordering from a printing company, the printing method and ink will also differ, so the colors will not match.

In other words, there is a significant difference between the colors produced by your printer and the colors produced by the printing company.

For this reason, if you fixate on the colors produced by your printer, you will end up saying, "The colors are different from what I imagined!" after delivery.

So, what should you do?

It's simple. Perform color proofing (a prototype) to check the colors in advance. Set your mind to the fact that the mass-produced items will be in the same color as those printed during color proofing.

However, color proofing (a prototype) is not free and takes a few days. We understand the desire to avoid additional costs and time, but for a satisfactory print job, it is best to check in advance whenever possible.

If you don't have the cost or time, send the printout to the printing company and ask them to "match the color as closely as possible." While it may not be an exact match, they will do their best to adjust within the possible range.

That's all for Sticker Printing: Colors Differ from Printer.