Scientific research has shown color significantly increases readership, retention and the tendency to act.* And, to the surprise of many, increasing the impact of your printed piece with color doesn't have to be expensive. Just one or two colors can help improve your piece. There are also several color-related techniques you can use to lead the reader's eye to believe it is seeing more colors. Still other color techniques will help you create a more interesting piece and increase readership.

Following are a few principles you should know, yet in the design world the rules are often broken by skillful designers with outstanding results.

1. Match Your Color to Your Message

It has long been known that certain colors affect most people in specific ways. You can influence your reader to feel a certain way about your message when you use the best colors. Also keep in mind that most colors have both negative and positive emotions associated with them. How you use the color will help determine the reaction.

For example, red is an emotionally charged color. It can generate excitement, passion or be provocative. It can also conjure up images of blood or rage. Generally, women prefer blue-based reds while men prefer yellow-based reds.

Green, like a dark or forest green, provides a feeling of comfort and might be a good choice to include in a piece acquainting customers with a new product. Other greens might not give that same feeling. Institutional green can remind people of hospitals or even government offices.

Orange generally suggests warmth, happiness and vitality. Orange and blue are a good combination because together they give the impression of strength.

Gray provides an air of classic and timeless quality to services or products. It's a very sober or humorless color. Most of your printed pieces will include black, so gray is an easy color to create using screens.

Yellow is the choice of most product displays because it is easily processed by the human eye. It's a sunny and pleasant color, good for highlights. Yet due to its lack of contrast, yellow is not a good choice for large parts of your printed images.

Blue has a calming effect. It is associated with a peaceful and restful clear sky and inviting waters. It is a good choice for travel or entertainment promotions.

White indicates class and refinement, as well as cleanliness and purity. You might consider printing in opaque white if you're using a color paper stock.

Black is a power color. It can also suggest elegance and class, two traditionally expensive characteristics to convey.

2. Consider Color Relationships

We've all seen how some colors seem to just work well together. To help them visualize relationships between colors, many designers use a color wheel. A color wheel can help you determine which color relationships work best in your application.

One frequently used relationship is the analogous set which includes one primary, one secondary and one tertiary color such as blue, blue-green and green.

A color wheel can be purchased at most good art or design stores. It's a tool that will help take the mystery out of color coordination.

3. Try Screens/Halftones

Screens or halftones allow you to "lighten" the appearance of your ink, making it appear as if another color has been used. They are fields of colored and non-colored dots that appear to be a solid image from a normal viewing distance. To the eye, these colored and non-colored dots blend to form a new color variation. A halftone is a photographic image to which a screen has been applied.

There are many different levels of screens you can use. Some lighten the color considerably while others will just slightly change the color. Thus, you can get the appearance of several colors from one ink by using a variety of screens.

Screens are specified as a percentage of a solid color. A 50% screen produces a color that is half as dark as the original, while a 90% screen is nearly the same as the original. Most printers work with screens in 5% or 10% increments.

To multiply the effects you can get from screens, you can print two screened colors in one area, known as a duotone. Similarly, you can overprint an image of one color against a screened background of a second color to really add impact.

4. Evaluate Your Paper Color

The most inexpensive way to add an additional color to your printed piece is to use color papers. Solid colors and especially halftones will look quite different when printed on colored paper.

If you're printing a series of pieces that will work together, such as brochures, you can enhance their combined appearance by using a different color paper for each piece. To maintain the relationship between each piece, print each piece in similar colors and use similar layouts. Consult with your printing professional when you plan to use color papers and color inks, because the outcome can be difficult to visualize.

5. Use Color for Emphasis

Sparse use of color can add emphasis to your key points, but don't overuse color highlights or your reader's eye will become confused. Select your key points so they tell an abbreviated version of your story. Your reader's eye will be directed to these color highlighted points ensuring that those who merely scan your document will get your message.

6. Understand How to Specify Colors

There are two ways to add a specific color to your printed piece. Four-color process separates a color into the four basic printing colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) and then prints your color using those four inks. Spot color printing is where one ink of the exact color you specify is used in the press.

The Pantone Matching System(r) (PMS) is the standard method for specifying over a thousand different colors. These are commonly referred to as PMS(r) colors. To help you determine and specify the precise color you want printed, Pantone produces a booklet showing each of the colors and their PMS number. You can get one of these at most graphic arts stores and from better professional printers.

Color can greatly increase the impact of your printed piece. Good use of color can improve readership and increase action without big increases in your printing budget. Most often, the end results justify an additional color or two.