Files & prepress
What is rich black?
Rich black is black printed from multiple inks — a CMYK build like 60/40/40/100 — producing a deeper, denser black than 100% K alone, which prints greyish over large areas.
Single-channel black is right for small text (no registration risk), but a flood of it on a banner looks washed out next to a rich build. Most RIPs offer a rich-black setting; the design-side build matters when the file controls the separation.
Two cautions: total ink coverage has limits on some media (over-saturated black puddles and slows curing), and mixing the two blacks side by side — a 100K logo on a rich-black field — prints as two visibly different blacks. Pick one per surface.
Related terms
Software that speaks the trade
PrinterFlo runs print & sign shops on one board — quotes that price by size and material, proofs approved from one link, and a production checklist the quote writes for you.