New color guidelines- no more RGB?

[Connie]

Zazzle apparently has new color guidelines, and now they are recommending CMYK instead of RGB? And no more JPGs and PNGs? How does that work for full-color images like watercolors and photos? Those would look horrible with the limited color range of CMYK. And I work mostly in Photoshop, not Illustrator, so all my graphics are RGB. Not to mention the thousands of dollars I've spent over the years on RGB graphics.

This is really going backwards- one of the big breakthroughs of POD was the ability to print RGB instead of CMYK, which was the industry standard for regular print-shops that required vectors.

https://help.zazzle.com/hc/en-us/articles/31818643206807-Zazzle-Print-Colors-Guidance

[Saints_Aplenty]

Good grief!

[Zorinda]

Another new make work project from Zazzle.  According to the guidance, these are recommendations that Zazzle prefers.  I suspect that most designers who aren’t already using vectors will prefer to ignore them and carry on, business as usual. My prediction: PNGs and JPGs will be around for a long time.  It’s gonna be hard for Zazzle to forcibly change direction especially if designers don’t want step in line and cooperate.  This ship won’t be turned easily.

[Jadendreamer13]

There is no need to change existing graphics, unless they have a high rate of return, as the article says. Both Illustrator and Photoshop can be changed from RGB to CMYK color mode by using the color preference option. I’ve never used jpegs on Zazzle because they are known as lossy (loss of data) files when they are compressed. There is less data loss with pngs. Some colors, called out-of-gamut colors, can be problematic because they print differently than a computer screen can display. You used to be able to turn on an option in Illustrator and Photoshop that will flag out-of-gamut colors. You probably still can. In my experience, some colors can be more problematic than others when printed, like reds and blues.

I have designed a few pillows for myself on Zazzle using a bright pink (almost fuchsia) that arrived looking more dusty rose, so on some products the issue is more severe. On pillows, for instance, the color change from fuchsia to rose happens when you choose the indoor fabric, but not when you choose the outdoor fabric. So in the description on those few products, I recommend that customers choose the outdoor fabric, which produces much more vibrant colors. Who knows if customers read our product descriptions, but it’s the best I can do.

I think the color charts shown in the article are replacements for the standard color squares designers can use in the design tool. I rarely use them anyway, since I import my designs as transparent png files and then I use the color picker tool to match the font colors (and occasional shapes I use) in my graphic.

Frankly, other than Zazzle fonts, which I need to use to create templates, I rarely use the standard colors (or shape tools) shown in the design tool.

I don’t see these recommendations as having much effect on most folks’ work.

[Connie]

Changing RGB to CMYK, in Photoshop at least, results in dull, muddy colors. The color gamut is so much smaller that it really doesn't have much use for full-color images.

Yes, Photoshop does give a warning for out-of-gamut colors. But it's extremely limiting, and you pretty much can only use dark, dull colors.

JPEGs today, at the higher resolutions of modern cameras and Photoshop, don't have much loss. I use PNGs for transparency, but for photos, I always have used JPEGs. 

[Mariholly]

It seems there is no respite for designers...
Well, we will see what happens in the future with all this, and I only hope these changes do not lead to a massive episode of returns or cancellations if the prints do not match expectations. As we know from many comments read over time, Z does not seem to be characterized by its quality controls after printing.
The issue of colors and formats is something I have always tried to explain to my clients without much success.
I hope Z is not putting its own future at risk with so many changes.

[Mariholly]

Do I need to update my existing product colors to follow these guidelines? 

If you have existing products with a high return rate or reviews mentioning print or color issues, it’s a good idea to revisit and revise them for color accuracy. 

Oh, this is so funny... But we don’t even get notifications about reviews, which can also be on any Z domain, nor are we informed about returns or cancellations 🤦‍♀️

[KeegansCreation]

I wonder when this change went into effect? This should have been an announcement. I also wonder why png isn't on their list of desired formats?

[Sara_H]

@KeegansCreation  According to Wayback Machine, the earliest publicly archived copy of the article appears on 14 May 2025, so it's possible that it was published shortly before that date (though can't be sure)

and I agree - There should have been an announcement at least if they are requesting us to revisit designs for returns  - but as @Mariholly said - we are never told the reasons for returns so how could we know if it was a print issue (or something else) if the customer doesn't leave a review and Zazzle doesn't contact us directly.

They did change the color palette in the Design Tool back in Oct 24 (ish) so maybe it's from that

Creator News https://community.zazzle.com/t5/creator-news/adjustments-to-color-palette-in-the-design-tool/ba-p/17... but there was no mention in that post that they had updated the help file.

Dunno  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[PenguinPower]

Zazzle has never printed in RGB.. that is not possible... All printing that is not spot color is done in CMYK and all files were converted before printing, Zazzle just used to do it for you. In Photoshop you should always be previewing your images for printing (go to view - proof setup "working CMYK"  and make sure "proof colors" is checked). 

I've never understood why in the past they recommended RGB... I figured it was just because they wanted to keep it simple for people and also leave the window open for high gamut printing processes (those that use more than the traditional CMYK inks, they may use light CMYK and orange, violet and green to produce more colors).

Unless you have certain products that you see being returned often I do not think you need to go back and change your images. Things that use fluorescent appearing colors and bright greens are most likely to be affected as these colors are the hardest for CMYK printing to reproduce - they may appear flat or muddy and disappoint customers.

Here's a pair of images I made some time ago - the first is what an RGB color spectrum looks like on your screen - the second is approximately what a traditional CMYK printing process can recreate. 
RGBCMYK

[Connie]

CMYK for photos would look horrid! Same for watercolors and other full-color images. If I previewed everything in Photoshop for printing, I would never submit any designs because they would all look horrible!

On your examples, CMYK especially ruins my favorite part of the spectrum- the aqua/ turquoise/ teal area. All blues are terrible actually, and purple and green ain't much better. Apparently it is only adequate in the red section.

Maybe technically Zazzle is converting the RGB to CMYK during their printing process, but since that is printer specific and always has been, there's no way for us to do it. That's why it has always been best practice to send RGBs when you don't have the exact printer specs, so that they can convert it properly.

[idraw]

• deleted.