A picture is worth a thousand words. Shapes, colors and shadows contribute to create the soul of meaning. Four Color Poster Printing is the medium that makes all of it possible in one flick of a mouse.

When getting a full-color poster printed, make it your mission and the printing company's mission to do your picture justice. Don't let the complexity of your picture, or the strength of its emotions, and the impact of its colors be muddled up by dull printing.

Achieving high quality prints is no longer as difficult as it used to be. Pictures can be digitally enhanced to optimize sharpness and contrast. Graphic design software can manipulate pictures to create varying effects and instantly add on details. All this technology is at your fingertips.

For perfectionists like you, the only thing you might have problems with, is finding a printer you can trust your posters with. Here are a few things you might want to know:

•Four-color printing in the right hands can offer photographic quality. Don't confuse four-color printing with just having four colored print-outs or cartoon-like looking images or color quality. Rather, it layers four colors of inks to create a wide range of colors.

•Each poster is printed four times; one for each of the CMYK colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). Tonal values are present during each print, so when combined, it forms a photograph like print.

•Computer monitors, TV screens, and most medium that emits light uses RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color system. Like the CMYK, it uses these three as its primary colors, combining them to create variety. Converting RGB colors will not guarantee 100% accuracy. It is always best to start designing with CMYK.

•CMYK color system, even with its gamut of colors, fails to imitate some of the colors our eyes see. It can try to copy these colors but may not satisfyingly meet your standards. If it is absolutely important to get the accurate color, you may purchase an individual ink from the Pantone system.

•Four-Color-Printers use semi-translucent ink. There also is no such thing as white ink. The computer translates white as empty space not to be printed on. This means the color of the paper also affects the over-all color of the poster. Choose white paper for your posters. When necessary, you may request pearlized ink from your printing company to print white or closest to it.

•The texture of the paper or the finishing applied to it affects the quality of colors. High gloss or aqueous coat makes the color of the poster more vibrant. The matte or natural feel makes the images look dull and subdued yet natural.

The printing company should provide you with a digital proof to check the colors for optimum results. If dissatisfied with the result, talk to their technical support personnel to make necessary adjustments. You may also ask for a hard proof to see how the variables come together to make your perfect print.

With the hard copy proofs, you can see just how the colors turn out on the paper stock you specified. You would know too if the colors are up to your expectations first hand.

So, it pays to work closely with your printer at every step and build on that relationship. Make sure your picture says all the right words through four color poster printing.