The brilliance of gold CMYK color can be very captivating (if we don’t mention Gollum from “O Senhor dos Anéis”). that’s why we decided to dedicate this article to CMYK golden color and its other versions, such as RGB golden and pantone golden.
If you do not know how to obtain the hexadecimal golden color, what is the palette of golden colors or what are the colors that combine with the golden color, in this post you will find the answers. Besides, we will explain how to make golden colors in Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel and other graphic design tools.
We’ll also tell you on which platforms you can get golden PNG vectors and elegant golden backgrounds, which we know will be very useful for your designs or illustrations. Finally, we will tell you what are the trends in golden colors for 2022.
So, read this article and discover the most hidden secrets of CMYK gold color!
Meaning of golden color
Well, before we start with all that, you need to know the meaning of the golden color, what it conveys, does it relate to what you want to communicate in your design, logo or illustration?
The psychology of color is very important in design, marketing and advertising. What does the golden color symbolize? The term golden comes from the latim aurum, which means gold. It symbolizes the precious metal (gold), the sun and abundance, and is strongly associated with power, wealth, strength and royalty.
For example, did you know that in ancient Egypt it symbolized spiritual light, life and rebirth? Meanwhile, according to Urban Communication, from a marketing point of view, golden color means quality, luxury, premium, merit and fame. Meanwhile, in astrology, the bright gold color is related to the Lion sign and the Sun, the king of the stars. One of these meanings is the one you are trying to convey?
How do you define the CMYK golden color?
Surely you have heard this term at some point in your life, especially if you work in graphic design or illustration. “CMYK” stands for Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Key (Preto), which in Portuguese is translated as Cyan, Magenta, Amarelo e Preto. These values are used for printing digital products. And, precisely, the golden color CMYK is one of the most sought-after colors by designers, illustrators and any artist who wants to give a touch of elegance to their projects.
For example, if today you want to illustrate a Pikachu poster to print and hang on your wall, it is important that you design it with CMYK values. This way, the colors will come out as you originally intended.
To define the colors in CMYK, you need to use the hexadecimal system composed of letters and numbers. What are these values for? Easy, to determine which color (better known as Pantone) will be used in your graphic design. And you may be wondering: How to get the golden color CMYK? Do not deviate from this article, we will tell you how to follow.
The hexadecimal color
The hexadecimal code to obtain the Pantone golden color has a shade of yellow and is as follows:
How to make the golden color in CMYK?
Achieving a golden color in digital is not easy. However, the values established to achieve the CMYK golden color are as follows:
C: 0% (0.000), M: 23% (0.234), Y: 93% (0.933), K: 6% (0.063).
But there is a detail: this CMYK golden color lacks the characteristic brightness of, for example, a gold ring. Therefore, obtaining the golden color in digital is a problematic issue. But there is a way to achieve this brilliant effect. Find out how!
CMYK golden color with glow
Before anything else, it is necessary to keep in mind that the CMYK gold color does not look like a real gold ink. However, there is a formula to get a color very close to the shiny gold. To achieve this, do the following:
Apply the following CMYK values: C:0% M:20% Y:60% K:20%.
To obtain the shiny effect of the golden color, you must varnish your printing (with a common varnish). This is what you need to achieve the golden color you are looking for. Remember that if you print on smooth or opaque paper, the color you will obtain will be an ocher color.
Colors that combine with CMYK coloring
If you like to jump with colors, then you will like this section because we will tell you which colors combine well with the golden CMYK. Well, let’s start with the color scheme of the golden color. It looks like this:
If you like gradients, then we will share with you the series of codes with which you can jump.
Gradient from gold to white
Gradient from golden to black
And if your activity is web design, here are some examples of how will be the golden color in backgrounds, texts and shadows.
Text coloring
Dourado de fundo
Shade-grown
More variations of the golden color in CMYK
In this box we present other variations of the CMYK golden color. From a lighter shade, a more saturated shade, to a darker shade and a 25% desaturated shade. Thus, you can choose the CMYK color of your choice. We would like to emphasize that these shades can work perfectly with coloring, but you should be very careful not to ruin your work.
Palette of golden colors
This palette is composed of 9 variations of golden color. From left to right: ouro (web), ocre ouro, ocre dourado, marrom dourado, aureolina, bistre marrom, preto dourado, ouro velho e haste de ouro.
Source: Wikipedia
How to make a golden color with the primary colors?
The golden color does not usually appear on palettes like other colors. It is common to get it ready-made or sprayed (its more metallic version). But what if you want to get it on your own? How to make the golden color with primary colors? Here we tell you how to obtain it.
How to make the golden color with paints?
Tempera is one of the most used inks by adults and children. If you don’t know how to make the golden color with the primary colors, you only have to do the following:
To obtain the basic golden color, combine the yellow color with a little bit of white. White is used to make it brighter.
To obtain the medium golden color, combine the yellow color with a dot of black. Yes, in this case it is necessary to use black to obtain a darker golden hue.
How to make the color golden with oil?
To obtain the golden color in the oil painting technique, you will need the following colors: white, lemon yellow, magenta and phthalo blue. Now, follow these steps:
Prepare the violet color. To do this, mix a little magenta with a touch of phthalo blue.
Separately, mix a little lemon yellow with a touch of magenta. You will have a medium shade of golden color.
Paste a little of the previous mixture (lemon yellow + magenta) and add white to lighten. You will have a light golden color.
If you want to obtain an even lighter golden color, paste a little of the previous mixture and add more white.
To obtain a darker golden color, mix again a little bit of lemon yellow with a touch of magenta. Then add the violet mixture you prepared at the beginning. If you notice that it lacks heat and is greenish, add a touch of magenta.
Next, a tutorial to help you understand how to make the golden color with oil.
How to define RGB golden color?
Basically, RGB is a color system formed by the light intensity of the primary colors red, green and blue. The combination of these lights generates countless shades of color (more than 16 million) that you can display on your computer monitor or on the screen of your cell phone.
The RGB model (acronym in English red, green and blue) is the only one for use in monitors, websites, tablets and other digital media.
The values to achieve the RGB golden color are as follows:
RGB: 239, 184, 16
How to define Pantone color?
Pantone is mainly used for printing on paper. In general, Pantone colors have a three or four digit number followed by the letters C or U. These letters refer to the weight of the paper. C is for glossy paper and U is for smooth paper.
For example, these Pantone color tones are for glossy paper:
This is a Pantone color tone in TPM (for metallic paper):
Tools to make a golden color
How to use the golden color in Illustrator?
There are several ways to use golden color in Illustrator. In general, it is most often used to give a gold effect or a golden texture to texts. Want to see how your favorite phrase looks with a golden texture? Do the following:
Find the golden texture for Illustrator that you like the most. Make sure it has a good resolution.
Open Illustrator and create a new document with the text you want to give a golden texture to.
Drag (or copy and paste) the golden texture onto the Illustrator canvas and place it over the text.
Select the texture and drag it to the swatches panel. Release it to create it.
Once the texture is created, turn off the image of the golden texture.
Go to the layers panel and select the text to apply the texture.
Click on the golden sample (that you created earlier) and go!
Next, some pictures and elements of golden color to inspire you. Open your Illustrator and start designing!
Golden texture
Fundo de ouro
Letra dourada
dourado icon
How to make golden letters in Photoshop?
There is a simple way to make golden letters in Photoshop. If you have basic knowledge of this program, you can do it without any problem. Follow these steps.
Try to get a golden color background or a golden texture of good quality.
Remember that if you want to have the CYMK golden color on your letters and make them shine on their own, you need to find a high resolution texture. Once you have taken this step, open a new document in Photoshop.
Change the standard name of the layer to “Background”.
At this stage of how to make golden letters in Photoshop, keep in mind to choose a shade that matches your golden background with the Paint Bucket tool.
Place your text on top of the background
Type it directly with the Text tool or import a different font. Once you have decided what to do, name this field “Text”. Make sure that the text has a color that stands out from the background.
Import the golden background or the golden texture to your workspace
When you have the golden texture open in Photoshop, name the field “Texture”.
Go to the litter panel
Make sure that the layers follow this order: texture, text and background.
Select the texture layer
Click with the right mouse button and choose the option Create clipping mask.
that’s it! Agora você tem letras douradas
From now on you know how to make golden letters in Photoshop easily and quickly.
But there is another way to make golden letters in Photoshop. It is not complex, but it requires you to master the software a little more.
Before you start, create a new 1920×1080 document in Photoshop and give it a stroke. This will be your background.
Select the Text tool and type the word “gold” or whatever you want to give it a golden texture. Choose a suitable font, such as Times Roman, so that the gold effect can be seen.
When you have the text ready, enlarge it almost to the size of your background.
Now go to the layers panel and duplicate your text layer (ctrl + J).
Double click on the duplicated layer to go to Layer Styles.
And that was the first (and easiest) part. To continue and learn how to make golden letters in Photoshop, follow the steps of this tutorial: