Is White a Color?

How many colors are there on my book layout design? The white of the paper never counts as a color in book layout design. White is the background and each individual color after that actually counts. For example:

• A one-color cover is one ink-color on white paper
• A two-color book design cover is two colors on white
• A three-color book cover is three colors on white The more colors you use, the more expensive your book layout design will be.

Here are a few hints to help you cut costs:

• Ask a designer to use screens to get other tints or colors without having to pay for them ( a 50% screen used with black will yield a gray in the area screened, and a 50% screen of red will yield a pink, etc.)
• The combination of two screens gives you the effect of a third color. (blue plus yellow equals green, yellow plus red equals brown, etc.)

*In today's digital world, there is no reason to design anything but a four color process cover (a one or 2 color cover is going to actually be printed four color if you run quantities under 500).