Can I print in CMYK with Digital Gold, Silver or Metallic Colours on the same design?

Yes, you certainly can. The way you set up your artwork for this print method is a little different to setting up for Digital Gold, Silver or Metallic Colours (DGSM) on their own. 

It's important that your Illustrator or InDesign document is using the CMYK profile

Here’s how you do it in Illustrator (you must name the spot colours exactly). Make sure your colour mode is also CMYK.

Digi Gold + CMYK

Parts of the design to be printed in Digital Gold should be a Red spot colour (CMYK 0/100/100/0) and named: Gold

Any other parts of the design to be printed in CMYK are fine to be left as a mix of CMYK.

Digi Silver + CMYK

Elements to be printed in Digital Silver should be a Cyan spot colour (CMYK 100/0/0/0) and named: Silver

Any other parts of the design to be printed in CMYK are fine to be left as a mix of CMYK.

If you’re using Canva (which can’t create spot colours) use these Hex values for Gold or Silver instead:

Gold: #ff0000 (Red)

Silver: #00ffff (Cyan)

Any other parts of the design to be printed in CMYK are fine to be left as a mix of CMYK.

Digi Gold and Silver based Metallics + CMYK

Unfortunately, it’s not currently possible to print with Digital Metallics with Canva. Illustrator or InDesign is required for metallic printing.

For artwork to be printed in Gold or Silver-based Metallics it must be supplied as a spot colour named the swatch you wish to use (e.g. GM 01, GM 12 etc.) Download our metallic swatches here and use them in Illustrator or InDesign. 

Any other parts of the design to be printed in CMYK are fine to be left as a mix of CMYK.

Click here for more information about setting up your artwork for Digital Gold and Silver-based Metallics.

For more in depth information about setting up your artwork read our artwork guidelines