{"id":2206,"date":"2015-12-15T12:56:11","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T12:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing\/"},"modified":"2015-12-15T12:56:11","modified_gmt":"2015-12-15T12:56:11","slug":"cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing","title":{"rendered":"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_cyan-magenta-yellow-black_printing_mean\">What Does Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) printing is a printing technique used by most color printers. Each color visible to the human eye can be described as a combination, in different ratios, of these four colors; a CMYK printer uses only these four colors to print any color on a document.\n<\/p>\n<p>Cyan-magenta-yellow-black printing is also known as four-color printing or process color printing.\n<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_cyan-magenta-yellow-black_printing\">Techopedia Explains Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing<\/span><\/h2>\n<p> Cyan-magenta-yellow-black printing is a printing standard used in most color printers. A CMYK model is a pigment model whereby cyan, magenta, yellow and sometimes black are the primary pigments. All other pigments are made from the combination, in varying amounts, of these basic pigments. A tool for desktop publishing is used that matches the RGB display color to its corresponding CMYK value so the printed copy is the same as the displayed color.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing Mean? Cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) printing is a printing technique used by most color printers. Each color visible to the human eye can be described as a combination, in different ratios, of these four colors; a CMYK printer uses only these four colors to print any color on a document. Cyan-magenta-yellow-black printing is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[217],"class_list":["post-2206","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-hardware"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing (CMYK Printing)? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-15T12:56:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing\"},\"wordCount\":143,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing\",\"name\":\"What is Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing (CMYK Printing)? - Definition from Techopedia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-15T12:56:11+00:00\",\"description\":\"This definition explains the meaning of Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing and why it matters.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hardware\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/hardware\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Term\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/\",\"name\":\"Techopedia\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Techopedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Techopedia\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/techopedia\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/techopedia\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Techopedia\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about\/editorial-policy\",\"ownershipFundingInfo\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\",\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Margaret Rouse\"},\"description\":\"Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other\u2019s highly specialized languages.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/margaretrouse\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/@techdefinitions\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"Technology Expert\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/contributors\/margaret-rouse\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing (CMYK Printing)? - Definition from Techopedia","description":"This definition explains the meaning of Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing and why it matters.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing","og_description":"This definition explains the meaning of Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing and why it matters.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing","og_site_name":"Techopedia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@techopedia","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing"},"author":{"name":"Margaret Rouse","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5"},"headline":"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing","datePublished":"2015-12-15T12:56:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing"},"wordCount":143,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#respond"]}],"articleSection":""},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing","name":"What is Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing (CMYK Printing)? - Definition from Techopedia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-15T12:56:11+00:00","description":"This definition explains the meaning of Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing and why it matters.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/1974\/cyan-magenta-yellow-black-printing-cmyk-printing#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hardware","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/hardware"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Term","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black Printing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/","name":"Techopedia","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization","name":"Techopedia","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg","caption":"Techopedia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/","https:\/\/x.com\/techopedia","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/techopedia\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Techopedia"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about\/editorial-policy","ownershipFundingInfo":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5","name":"Margaret Rouse","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg","caption":"Margaret Rouse"},"description":"Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other\u2019s highly specialized languages.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/margaretrouse\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/@techdefinitions"],"knowsAbout":["Technology Expert"],"url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/contributors\/margaret-rouse"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definition\/2206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definition"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/definition"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7813"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definition\/2206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"definitioncat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definitioncat?post=2206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}