How to increase saturation or intensity of this printed pattern

Question

• The image on the left is what I see on my monitor ( CMYK Vector )
• The image on the right was produced using flexography for a packaging design

The image on the right is dull and murky and doesn't 'pop' as much as it should. I think the yellow is the issue. Is it a possibility that my printer is at fault? Could I ask them to increase the % of yellow?

Would a matte or glossy finishing technique help?

OR is the design itself the issue with too many gradients making it hard to accurately reproduce through print?

Answer 1

It is quite hard to tell from the image that you have posted, but to me it looks like a result of the printing process being unable to reproduce deep or bright colours on the media being used. This is very common on matt and uncoated media.

I would expect LAMINATING (or wet varnishing) to help the colours to "pop"

You should be able to do a test of this by throwing a proof through a laminator in a gloss pouch.

Answer 2

What you see on your monitor is RGB. Yes, it's a CMYK file, and it's likely trying to compensate, but it's still using an RGB model.

As such, what you see on screen is usually always more vibrant/saturated than what CMYK can produce. This is due to the reproducible colors being different in each color space:

Using coated paper and/or applying a top-coat can certainly help your CMYK print look brighter, but ultimately, you are at the mercy of what CMYK can do.

At this point, you need to talk to your printer and get their feedback. They may be able to tweak the file to accommodate. Alternatively, if it is yellow that is the issue, perhaps they can swap Y for a more vibrant Pantone Spot Yellow.

Answer 3

I think the printer is at fault, Check the printers settings and make sure you set them accordingly to the papper type you use, check also the color format, you can also try to make a rgb version and print it to see if the result is any better.