Color & Special Effect Vinyl FAQ

This depends on your computer screen’s accuracy.  For all of our standard colors, we’ve included PMS numbers so you can match those against your Pantone color guide.

Note that the PMS value represents the color the record resembles when looked at with an unlighted white background. The PMS colors are for reference only and don’t match exactly since the colors can differ depending on the batch of the vinyl granulate.

Color blends, mixes and swirls may vary throughout the press run. While we follow strict formulations for each of our color blends, the mixture is imperfect and can look lighter or darker from one record to another.

Hand pour mixes vary greatly throughout the run due to the nature of the process. Please see the photos to see what to expect for each color combo.

While we pride ourselves on always pressing high quality vinyl, if you’re concerned with audio quality, black vinyl is always your best bet. Color vinyl will have a higher noise floor. White and clear vinyl is very difficult to quality control because the grooves are difficult to see.  Metallic colors sound worse than other colors.  Transparent colors tend to sound better than opaque. 

Check out all our color vinyl options and the FAQ on noise floor.

Without getting all scientific, noise floor is the amount of ambient sound created by the record and turntable that is not present in the audio recording. Think of it as low-level noise pollution. Black PVC is made in large volumes and is produced to generate the lowest noise floor possible. Color PVC produces a higher noise floor because of the color additives and chemical makeup of the plastic. If your audio is on the soft side or if you are aiming to impress the Audiophile community, you’ll probably want to stay away from color vinyl in general and the following colors in particular: metallics, white, clear, color blends and mixtures, special effect vinyl.

Because we run jobs of all colors on the presses, there’s sometimes a bit of the previous job’s color that can mix in with the new job. With all jobs we purge the machines to minimize any color transfer. If you’re extra concerned with not getting any possible color streaks or spotting on your order, you have the option to add on an extruder cleaning to minimize this even more. An extruder cleaning is recommended with any light solid colors, like white, or our clear options. Ask your sales rep. for pricing.

If you’re looking for precise uniformity for an effect, go with a solid color. Effect vinyl is literally made one at a time by hand, which means it’s impossible to have each puck exactly the same. Part of the appeal of effect vinyl is that each vinyl is one of a kind, that’s just one reason why collectors love them!

Yes! We can’t promise an exact match, but we will try and get as close as possible to the PMS color you’re looking for. Because of how different colors blend together, your vinyl may have some marbling. If you need us to color match or to try out some options for you to approve, we can do that (for a fee).  Ask your sales rep for more information.

Blends are mixes of our normal colors. They swirl together to create a new color. Based on how the colors react to each other, different mixes have different levels of marbling visible, but it’s generally less pronounced than a Color Melt or Smoke.

Color Blend

Color Melts and Smoke use extra special High Melt PVC to make the variations more distinct. Instead of the color blending in or being absorbed into a base color, High Melt PVC maintains its integrity when mixed with another standard color. This makes a unique, ghost-like effect as seen in the example photo. The big production advantage of High Melt vinyl is that it can be run on fully automatic presses making High Melt records more affordable to make than any Color Effect vinyl. Ask your sales rep which colors we have to create this effect for your project.

No. We only offer special effect vinyl as 140g.

1) A Black base eats most colors. They’re still visible but will be more muted and visible mostly around the label.

2) Let us know if you’d like light, medium, or heavy splatter. Think of it as ordering a pizza and choosing light, regular, or extra cheese. Mmmm, cheese.

3) The base colors can be either solid or transparent. For more pop between the base and splatter color, choose a transparent color for the base and a solid color for the splatter. Transparent splatter colors can have less of a pop on a solid base.