Achieving more accurate color on both uncoated and coated stocks

At Holland Litho, we print primarily with digital and UV sheetfed presses when uncoated stock is requested. Both of these types of presses print colors that look more like PMS coated swatches than the darker, more muddied look of the PMS uncoated swatches or traditional printing on uncoated paper. Of course, the better the paper quality, the better the color will look.

In the photo below, inspect the blues and reds of both the PMS uncoated and coated swatch books. You will notice that some look very similar, while with others, the uncoated looks darker than the coated. Traditionally, some designers would pick one PMS number for printing on coated paper and another for printing on uncoated paper. For example someone may pick PMS 201 for printing on coated papers and PMS 200 for uncoated papers. While this approach keeps the colors closer as far as color balance goes, the uncoated version can appear more “muted” and lack the depth of the coated counterpart.

With both our UV offset presses and digital presses, colors appear cleaner, but also deeper by keeping the ink closer to the surface of the sheet, rather than absorbing into it.

This results in clean, brighter colors, even on uncoated paper. Our suggestion: refer to the coated swatches, even when printing on an uncoated sheet. No reason to settle for darker, muddier colors. However, if your vision is to intentionally achieve the more traditional/muted look of printing on uncoated paper — we can do that, too — by running your project on our non-UV offset press. Review this topic with your Holland Litho sales rep!

Left swatch: PMS uncoated; Right swatch: PMS coated
Top sheet: Proof sheet; Left bottom: Endurance Silk Coated Cover; Right bottom: Cougar Opaque Uncoated Cover
Colors printed: PMS 287 (blue) and PMS 1807 (red)