Process Blue

by David Harris // December 26  

Process blue is a color that is often used in the printing of books and other materials. It can be produced by mixing cyan with magenta and then adding yellow dye to create a pale green color. Process blue is often used instead of true blue because it results better when printed on specific paper or cards.

Process Blue is a deep, rich shade of blue found in many commercial print projects. It’s also one of the few blues available as standard from printers – so much so that you may find it’s automatically converted to CMYK for you if you use an RGB color mode document.

One thing worth noting about process colors like Process Blue (also known as Prussian blue) is that they are not what we would consider “pure” colors. Instead, they are made up of various inks.

Also known as International Klein Blue (IKB), Yves Klein was an artist who was fascinated by this type of ultramarine pigment. He saw IKB as a way to express ideas such as immateriality and infinity – concepts he felt resonated well with his work.

Process blue is a color name used to describe the combination of cyan and blue pigments, recorded in 1892. The resultant color is a deep shade of blue, which can be used for designs that want an oceanic or serene feel. Process Blue is often seen as a background color in book design as it creates depth and dimension. As well as this, it also plays a crucial role in printing because it’s one of the four colors used in CMYK printing (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black).

About the Author

David Harris is a content writer at Adazing with 20 years of experience navigating the ever-evolving worlds of publishing and technology. Equal parts editor, tech enthusiast, and caffeine connoisseur, he’s spent decades turning big ideas into polished prose. As a former Technical Writer for a cloud-based publishing software company and a Ghostwriter of over 60 books, David’s expertise spans technical precision and creative storytelling. At Adazing, he brings a knack for clarity and a love of the written word to every project—while still searching for the keyboard shortcut that refills his coffee.

mba ads=18