Welcome to Reilley (4) Color

Color has always been an important part of the information spectrum, and we, as humans, have evolved to be particularly sensitive to color, within our limited scope. Color can influence mood, hunger, romance, purchasing choices, sentiment, memory retention, and so much more.

As our technology has evolved, the ways and means we use to express color, and the technical aspects of controlling that expression, have also evolved.

This humble blog is an attempt to convey my own personal thoughts and technical aspects of working with color in the 21st Century, not only for my specialty of print (subtractive color) but also video and monitor color (additive color). We will discuss trends, and trends setters in the world of digital color, follow the shows and the newest color tech, give explicit, step by step directions for color management basics, and showcase exciting news within digital color.

It is my hope that this blog will become a resource for you in the future, a place where you can ask a question, discuss problems, and maybe even learn something.

And just who am I? My name is Christopher Reilley and I currently work for one of the top three print manufacturer's in the world. My actual title, if you care about that sort of thing, is Production Printing Workflow Engineer, but as I often say to customers, I am the print geek that comes along with this expensive investment in production printing. I help commercial  and enterprise printers either make or save money with their devices, utilizing all of the features and finding ways around the limitations when a job is on the line.

I started out as an artist, and illustrator, got into the field via graphics, drafting and page layout. I worked in the newspaper field, doing composition with wax and razor blades, transitioning all the way up to CTP. I have done prepress of all types, including flexo and catalogs. Eventually I worked for Xerox developing the workflow for the Book In Time print on demand system. I worked for a major direct mail house for quite some time, creating variable data printing templates. Shortly after that, I was the resident print expert at the largest privately owned office supply firm in America. I have configured and established facilities managed print sites for public school districts, done tech support for online print software, and designed book covers for a major Boston area publisher.

When not being a huge print nerd, I am also a published poet, father of two, excellent cook, and terrible saxophone player.

So if you have a specific question about digital print (and ALL that entails) please do feel free to drop me a line at reilley4color@gmail.com.

I intend to start with the basics, so watch this space for some upcoming tutorials, white papers, and some general info.

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Do you have a color management question, horror story or event to share?

Email me at reilley4color@gmail.com