what's your CMYK rich black colour profile?

[herbiehysteria]

hi guys
i just wanted to know how everybody's options vary when trying to get a real rich black CMYK colour for flat areas of black on a document.

the HSV black #000000 which i use for CMYK printed design exports and prints as a 'dark-grey' or charcoal/anthracite type of 'black', not really black at all. #000000 translates to C=0 M=0 Y=0 k=100%, but still prints as this dark grey colour.

after speaking to other designers, ive been told that the black i should be using for these areas should be something in the region of C=20% M=20% Y=20% K=100% and the easiest way to ensure i get the correct black is to create a new colour with this CMYK profile and use this instead.

my question is this, what does everyone use as their CMYK rich-black profile for printing onto gloss paper?

[gwpriester]

Herbie

When I wrote about rick black, as you have quoted, I said the best thing is to ask your printer. Different printers have different opinions about what is the correct about of CMY to add. It depends upon the paper you are printing on, the press, and a lot of other things.

So, if you really are curious about this, ask your printing professional.

[herbiehysteria]

gary, i was hoping for more of a generic standard because my PVC banner printer insists my pdfs are 100% black, do you think ive got a better chance of matching CMYK profiles if i have his hardware manufacturer and model details?