Many Complaints From Customers that Colors Are Less Vibrant on Product Than What Was Advertised

[Naptowntails]

Hi Everyone,

I create all of my designs in Procreate. When I upload the files to Zazzle they appear to be so vibrant and exactly how I intended the design.  However, when the product is printed, the colors are way off from the original design. Is anyone else having this issue? Is this a file type issue (i.e. should I be saving in a different format than what I’m using? Currently, I’m exporting as PNG or JPEG)?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[CrazyMermaid]

What products are they complaining about?

[Naptowntails]

Ornaments, grocery bags, t-shirts, and some of the greeting cards. I’m wondering if it’s RGB vs. CMYK options within Procreate combined with the file type? 

[idraw]

@Naptowntails 
What color profile are you using? Adobe RGB (1998)? Try using that when you create the Image, and save it with that profile. Example: In Photoshop, color settings>Settings>AdobeRGB>Working Spaces>Adobe RGB (1998)

Note: uncoated paper changes the color result. Absorbent products change the color result. Do not use CMYK, the color range is different, changes the range. If I remember correctly, Z converts the image to what they use, which I believe they said is RGB, this was discussed years ago, and Scott? chimed in to say that they use the above profile, RGB.

[Naptowntails]

I’m working out of Procreate and have been using RGB. I’ve taken a screenshot below:

[Connie]

I'm pretty sure Zazzle uses sRGB, not Adobe RGB. If so, that could account for some color differences, since Adobe RGB has a wider gamut.

[Fiorenzo]

Zazzle DOES use sRGB, it has been said, and it's also mentioned across the site. Even on paper products where they mention the prints are done in CMYK. For the prints, dedicated color profiles are used to convert the colors and calibrate the printers. These change from manufacturer to manufacturer and printer to printer, so your design can look different in colors across the product palette, depending on printer, calibration, and material.

Careful with Adobe RGB, some colors tend to be too saturated, less detailed, and may change after conversion to sRGB. You may work in Adobe RGB but you should check the conversion to sRGB result and manually adjust where necessary. Also always embed the color profile, so the printer knows and can convert properly. This is not mandatory on normal RGB/sRGB imagery since these are usually used correctly, but it's a must when working with other palettes, otherwise you may get awful results.

And always work on a properly calibrated screen that displays clean and properly saturated colors. If your whites look grey and the blacks washed out, you've lost in advance.

[Fiorenzo]

Even if you work in Adobe RGB you should convert your work to sRGB and include the color profile for safety before exporting to JPG or PNG. Zazzle uses sRGB like most other printers. I always work in sRGB for a better visual idea but when I import imagery I switch to Adobe RGB, look at how it looks, then copy the image, switch back to sRGB and paste the image back with the converted ADOBE colors. After that, if needed I lower the opacity of the converted Adobe layer to avoid too saturated colors and merge the two. 

[CLC]

Hi...this is more likely due to the actual printing process rather than your artwork. Depending on the product ordered there are many factors that can change the end color, such as if it's a large format printer and they are spraying directly onto the product the color can be effected, if they are running the machine at 8 pass instead of 16 pass the color will not be as vibrant, or clogged printer heads not spraying correctly. For paper products, colored paper or textured surfaces can dull the ink and change the color, it goes on and on. The companies that are fulfilling these orders are putting out multiple 1,000's of orders daily, I'm sure quality control is tough to keep up with.

[Naptowntails]

Thank you so much for your response. Have you personally found anything that works particularly well outstanding printing jobs for you in your business on Zazzle?

[PenguinPower]

I’m not sure what you’re asking.. I’ve never had any complaints about color or print quality… I certainly have not seen each and everything I’ve designed in actual print though.. 

[PenguinPower]

Yes, Zazzle suggests using RGB and allowing them to do the conversions BUT.. all printing is done in CMYK.. some processes may use extended gamut inks BUT it’s still not RGB, which has a far greater range than any printing process… When you design, even if you choose to leave your files as RGB, you still should preview them in a printing color space to get an idea of how the file will print. Some colors will not reproduce- bright, brights and neons, some are difficult-  greens can be difficult and will often appear darker and muddier than they appear on your screen. 
Personally, I do not convert photographic images from RGB, but when I draw in Illustrator, I do it in CMYK. 

[Naptowntails]

So do your products come out the way you intended through Zazzle when you create in CYMK? 

[PenguinPower]

They should.. I use a print safe palette, so all of the colors I select should at least be in gamut.. The material printed will influence the colors too.. absorbent materials, like cloth and matte paper, or anything that is not a bright white base will not appear as snappy as things like plastics or ceramics. 

[Naptowntails]

Ok, thank you so much. Sounds like I will need to start creating in multiple, different color profiles for each design based on what the material the design will be printed.

[Connie]

Have you looked at your Zazzle store from a computer? My ipad has more vivid colors than my laptop, but Zazzle prints much more closely to my laptop than my ipad. I work almost exclusively in srgb, and haven't had a problem with printing differences, but I sometimes have to adjust my designs on my laptop to make sure that they look good on Zazzle.

If possible, you should order some samples, at least of greeting cards, to compare the print to what you see. Then you have an idea of how to adjust your artwork to compensate.

[Naptowntails]

That’s a great idea about looking at it from a laptop vs. ipad. I’ve only been viewing from my ipad. Thanks for the info!

Yes, I try to order samples but have not ordered everything in my store (about 900 products….). 

[Cat]

This is a super complicated topic, and I don't think there's a perfect solution, because there are SOOOO many variables involved.

Don't know what sort of system you're using for designing, but you might want to consider downloading the correct color profile for your monitor or display and installing it in your system just to be sure that the colors you are using are being accurately displayed on your screen. How to change and install color profiles on Windows 11 (xda-developers.com)

That, of course, doesn't guarantee that the customer's device has an accurate color profile installed, and, of course, the colors will print differently on different materials. 

There's also the fact that many of the Zazzle mockups show the color being significantly lighter than the actual color. I recently had a long correspondence with someone on Zazzle's quality control team and was told that the color in the design tool is the more accurate one, and that at least some colors will print darker than the actual chosen color. He advised me to avoid using very dark blues and purples because these can print black. I'm just talking about background colors set in the design tool, not uploaded artwork here.

I do think that if Zazzle cannot reproduce certain colors in the print process, they might want to consider omitting them from the color picker in the design tool. That wouldn't solve any problems with uploaded artwork, but it would at least prevent both customers and designers from choosing a color that is out of range for Zazzle's print process. 

Sooo... I dunno. Those are some things to consider, but I think the basic answer is to refer the unhappy folks to customer service and let them sort it out. 

[Naptowntails]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this and share your thoughts. These all are great points. Thank you!

[Connie]

I hope navy blue isn't too dark! I have so many navy blue products! The invitations I've gotten samples of printed fine, so I think that's an OK color.

[Cat · Accepted solution]

It was a total shock when I got the email from quality control because I'd had nothing but 5 star reviews on products using that color - some people even remarked that the color was perfect, others posted pictures and it looked great. So I don't know if something in the print process changed or what. Anyhow, they helped me change all the colors to what they said was the darkest blue they could handle. I'm still adjusting covers and making sure everything got changed. I mean, I'd rather change it than have unhappy customers, but I am still scratching my head a bit.

 

[Fantabuloustef]

I think it’s quite normal, and it’s the case for all POD platforms. The problem is that when you look at your product on a screen, it’s backlit and it uses additive color synthesis, whereas on a real-life product it’s substractive color synthesis ( colors are generated by light absorption, on a screen, it’s by light emission.) So it always look more colorful and bright on a screen. One solution I saw on a pod platform ( sorry don’t remember if it was Zazzle) is to saturate a little bit more your colors on your design before creating Zazzle products. And if you want a very realistic picture in your shop, then create specific pictures where you remove this excessive saturation.

[Fiorenzo]

Careful with oversaturation, this works only on some products that lose saturation on printing, mostly DTG prints on (cotton) fabric like shirts. On most products with vivid digital printing, including sublimation printing on polyester/synthetics (e.g. polyester pillows, scarves, all-over totes, blankets) as well as card printing and prints on ceramic like mugs, you may end up with an oversaturated mess. 

Only do this specifically on designs that are meant to get printed solely on products that knowingly suffer from less saturation.

A good idea of how things are printed you can get by checking out customers review photos and compare them with the previews and design areas.

[almdrs]

I found this suggestion on the internet. The question was "How to make RGB colors brighter when printing?"

• "Increase the RGB values: Keep the ratios between red, green, and blue the same, but increase them."

[Naptowntails]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate the help! 

[almdrs]

I've tried a few different things go make the colors look brighter... And suddenly I thought: "Why don't I try the official color palette that Zazzle has in the Design Tool":

I chose some colors that I like and saved them:

You can get the hex code on the bottom of the palette:

Then I used those colors to created a palette called "Zazzle Color Palette" in my computer:

I created an image using those colors and saved it in 2 formats png (the colors look darker) and JPG.

I believe the printers that Zazzle use are calibrated to use those colors. (?)

I hope this helps everyone!

[Barbara]

I'm now wondering if Scott (yes, that's who it was) mistakenly gave us the wrong information. It was in an old thread in which he told everyone to use Adobe RGB, not sRGB and not CMYK. I can't blame him, given that color has been a bugbear ever since the world turned digital on computer screens.

A point of interest is that a local fine-art printer accepts nothing but Adobe RGB. However, they print on photographic type paper as far as I know.

Maybe we need some official help from someone at Zazzle who's up close and personal with the print process here.

Colorwash's Home

[osea]

Very interesting topic. When I started design for Zazzle products I was surprised they suggested upload file in RGB color gamut. After that I just used a standard RGB color profile. I supposed to be asked to upload a RGB version for product web views and an high quality different version file in CMYK for printing. I supposed it was in this way, but it wasn't. So, what we need to know is about printing machines used from Zazzle to print products and what color profile is mostly used from them. There could be much different printing producers using different machines, it can be good create a standard Zazzle color profile to be used from each printing station and send the color profile file to all Zazzle designers to use in their software. However color can always change where they are to life due to kind of paper or fabric where the same art is printed, so the concern is much more wide.

[osea]

I mostly uploaded bitmap RGB files as suggested from Zazzle. And some PDF in CMYK main color, but I have to make a check to my files to know better about them and their color profiles. I hope anyway Zazzle convert graphics in the right gamut before printing, I mean when it is used one or more color of the Zazzle edit tool (Where there is RGB colors gamut options only), in the final design on a Zazzle product. Overally, clients satisfaction with the most accuration in better color print matching is a very good point to consider, I'm quite sure Zazzle have not doubts about how to manage it.

[Barbara]

I periodically design covers for books, and the rule there is Adobe sRGB in PSD format with a rather huge size as compared to the final size of the cover. I suspect that what's best can be different for different products, and here we are, designing for a company with a wide range of products and perhaps even printing methods, given that Zazzle doesn't do all the printing for the products. Sometimes it's the company that makes the product.

Colorwash's Home

[James]

Hi all, this is indeed a great topic of conversation and absolutely one we are monitoring for the feedback and concerns you are providing. We have really been focusing on quality and color related issues, as some of you might have received emails from our team to address any concerns in this department. This is something we're really diving into, to not only help you represent your designs in as best a light as possible, but to also meet and even exceed Customer expectations when they receive their order. We hope to have more updates to help address some of your questions in this department, soon.