The short version
- Screens mix light in RGB while most printing mixes ink in CMYK, and many vivid screen colours cannot be printed with standard process inks.
- Electric blues, neon greens, hot pinks and bright violets are the colours most likely to print duller than they look on screen.
- Banding in print usually comes from low bit depth, heavy compression or a blend that covers a small tonal range over a long distance, and a little noise helps hide it.
- Artwork for print should be prepared at 300 pixels per inch at its final size, for example 2480 by 3508 pixels for an A4 poster.
- A proof on the real paper, from the real printer, is the only reliable preview of how a printed gradient will look.
On this page
Printing gradients well comes down to three things: choosing colours that ink can reproduce, preventing the stepped stripes called banding, and keeping dark areas from going muddy. Screens make colour by adding light, so they can show brighter and more saturated colours than four process inks on paper. A gradient designed for a phone therefore needs checking, and often adjusting, before it goes to print.
This guide explains why each problem happens and ends with a checklist you can run on any poster, flyer or card. For the screen side of banding, see gradient banding.
Why gradients change between screen and print
Your screen uses red, green and blue light. A press typically uses cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink (CMYK) on paper, and the range of colours it can reach, its gamut, is smaller. Colours outside that range get mapped to the nearest printable colour when the file is converted. In a flat area that shift is often acceptable. In a gradient it can be worse, because neighbouring colours may shift by different amounts and the smooth ramp becomes uneven.
The usual casualties are electric blue, which tends to drift towards purple, and neon green, hot pink and bright orange, which lose their punch. If one of those colours is the point of the design, ask your printer about spot or fluorescent inks, which can reach colours process inks cannot.
Why printed gradients band
Banding is a gradient breaking into visible steps. In print it usually has one of three causes: the file was saved in 8 bits per channel with too few levels across the blend, it was compressed heavily as a JPEG, or the blend covers a small tonal change over a long distance, such as a pale grey sky across a whole A3 poster. The printer's screening can then exaggerate the steps into stripes.
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Visible stripes | Too few tonal levels across a wide area | Work in 16 bits, add a little noise before converting |
| Blocky steps | Heavy JPEG compression | Export as TIFF or PDF, or maximum-quality JPEG |
| Hard edge where a fade ends | Tint drops to 0% and the dots vanish abruptly | End the fade on a very light tint, or add noise across the edge |
| Dull, grey middle | Complementary colours mixing in ink | Route the blend through a related hue |
| Dark areas look brown or muddy | Too much total ink in the darks | Ask for the printer's ink limit and a rich black recipe |
| Colours shifted overall | Out-of-gamut RGB converted without checking | Soft proof with the printer's profile, then adjust |
Noise is the most reliable fix. A fine, even grain scatters the tones so no edge between steps lines up, and on paper it simply reads as texture. If your design already uses grain, you are ahead; grainy gradients covers how much to use.
Keeping printed gradients from going muddy
Mud in print has two sources. The first is the same as on screen: a blend between complementary colours, like blue and orange, passes through a greyish middle because the inks cancel each other out. Route the blend through a neighbouring hue instead. Muddy gradients shows how.
The second is specific to ink. Dark gradients built from all four inks at high values put a lot of ink on the paper, which can spread, dry slowly and look dull. Printers set a total ink limit that depends on the paper and press. Ask for it, and ask how they want deep blacks built, rather than guessing.
Screen habit
- Pure, saturated RGB colours at full strength
- Fading to pure white at 0%
- Dark ground built from maximum values in every channel
- Checking only on a bright, backlit monitor
Print habit
- Colours chosen within what the press can reach
- Fading to a very light tint, or to the paper with noise
- A dark ground built to the printer's ink limit
- A soft proof, then a hard proof on the real paper
Resolution and file sizes for printed gradients
Print at 300 pixels per inch at the final size. A gradient scaled up from a small screen image will look soft and band more, because each original pixel is stretched over several dots. These are the pixel sizes for common print formats at 300 dpi.
A4 poster
2480 × 3508
A5 flyer
1748 × 2480
A3 poster
3508 × 4961
18 x 24 in poster
5400 × 7200
Postcard
1800 × 1200
Business card
1050 × 600
Add bleed as your printer specifies, often a few millimetres on every edge, and extend the gradient into it. A gradient that stops at the trim line leaves a white sliver when the cut is slightly off. Poster design covers layout for large formats.
An A4 poster built at its full print size, so the gradient has enough pixels for a smooth blend.
A checklist for printing gradients
- 1
Talk to the printer first
Ask for their colour profile, ink limit, bleed and preferred file format before you design, not after.
- 2
Design at full size
Set up the document at the final dimensions and 300 dpi, with bleed. Work in 16 bits per channel if your tool allows it.
- 3
Choose printable colours
Soft proof with the printer's profile, or at least avoid the most vivid screen blues, greens and pinks unless you plan a spot ink.
- 4
Check every blend
Look for grey middles and hard ends. Add a midpoint colour where a blend dulls, and end fades on a light tint.
- 5
Add fine noise
A light, even grain across large, smooth blends prevents banding on press.
- 6
Export losslessly
Send a print-ready PDF or TIFF as requested. Avoid compressing the gradient as a low-quality JPEG.
- 7
Proof on the real paper
Coated and uncoated stock print the same file very differently. Uncoated paper usually looks softer and darker.
Gradients planned this way can look as rich on paper as on screen, just in a different way: softer, more tactile, closer to pigment than light. That quality suits gradient art and posters especially well.
Questions people ask
Why does my gradient look different when printed?
Printing uses ink instead of light and can reproduce fewer vivid colours, so saturated screen colours are converted to the nearest printable ones. Paper type changes the result too.
How do I prevent banding when printing a gradient?
Work at full size and in 16 bits if possible, add a fine noise to large smooth blends, and export as PDF or TIFF rather than a compressed JPEG.
Should I design print gradients in RGB or CMYK?
Either can work, but check the result with your printer's profile before sending. Many designers work in RGB and soft proof in CMYK; follow your printer's instructions for the final file.
What resolution should a printed gradient be?
300 pixels per inch at the final printed size, for example 2480 by 3508 pixels for an A4 poster.
Which colours are hardest to print in a gradient?
Very vivid blues, greens, pinks, oranges and violets, which sit outside the range standard process inks can reach.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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