Four-color printing uses the subtractive primary inks cyan, magenta, and yellow, plus black ink. This is abbreviated as CMYK or 4C. CMYK is the most widely used offset and digital color printing process.

High fidelity color printing refers to color printing that goes beyond the four process colors of CMYK. Adding extra ink colors results in sharper, more colorful images or allows for more special effects. There are several ways to achieve more vibrant colors or a larger color gamut.

In general, conventional offset printing is more time-consuming than digital printing. Offset printing requires separate printing plates to be prepared for each ink color. It is best suited for large print runs. Digital printing can be more cost-effective for smaller print runs. Whichever method you use, the more ink colors, the more time and cost, usually. As with any printing job, you should always talk to your print shop and get multiple quotes.

One way to expand your color printing options is to use the four process colors in combination with one or more spot colors: premixed inks of a specific color, including metallics and fluorescents. This spot color may not be a color at all. It may be an overprint varnish, such as an aqueous coating used for special effects. This is a good option if you need full-color photos, but also precise color matching of a company logo or other image with a very specific color that would be difficult to reproduce using CMYK alone.