“How do I print deep, rich black on uncoated paper?”

This is a question we get all the time. The truth is, there are many ways to achieve a deep, rich, even-looking black on your next print project if you’re using high-quality uncoated papers like Cougar® or Lynx® Opaque Ultra. Here are three ways we’ve printed blacks in recent promotions.

1. Build areas of heavy black coverage with 4-color process. Bright white paper stock appears more vibrant when contrasted with a heavy solid — we often build a very dense black with K – 100%, C – 40%, M – 30% and Y – 30%.

2. Our recent Explore Lynx print collateral proves that heavy, dark solids can print beautifully on uncoated paper. The background richness was achieved with two hits of rich black, plus a match blue screen. And the bright white in the image itself? That’s simply Lynx® Opaque Ultra shining through.

3. As in the case with our Share on Cougar® print collateral, sometimes running a double hit of process black is enough on high-quality uncoated paper.

The bottom line is this: no matter what you’d like to achieve on-press, make sure you have a conversation with your printer as early in the process as possible. Once your printer knows your expectations, he/she can then recommend the best approach to take.

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