Color Introduction Spot and process color Which colors are best? Choosing combinations Where to use color Take our ad effectiveness course. Learn what you need to know to get a great response the first time you run. Just $59 • Get more readers seeing your ad • Get more readers reading your ad • Get more readers responding

At one time the rule was to never use color in type, but you've probably seen great ads many times that break that rule.

The thinking was that black type on white provides the highest contrast, and you risk reducing the contrast between the type and background, and the type's readability, if you change its color.

So, if you're using color in your type, make sure it's dark enough to make it easy to read.

Logos and other graphic elements would be a great place to add color. While adding color to a logo might not necessarily draw more attention to your ad, it may increase the overall feeling of professionalism and therefore trust.

Never try to add spot color to a photograph. We've seen it done many times and I've never seen an effective result. Certainly add process color to a color photograph, however. As long as the reproduction is good, it'll draw lots more attention to your ad and communicate quality infinitely better than black and white photographs. This may be particularly important when selling art, fashion, furniture, or anything else where a color photograph would be necessary to answer key questions in a prospective buyer's mind.

And again, look at how other successful advertisers, especially the larger manufacturers, are using color in their ad. They probably know what they're doing.

Sure, color won't save an ineffective ad, so make sure you've done everything else right (and perhaps taken our course). And there are other things to think about before making that leap to color, including if color is available, the quality of the color reproduction, the cost of adding color, and whether or not you'd be better off putting the extra money into a larger ad (which would both increase viewership and give you more space to sell your prospective customer). But if after considering these things, if you're ready to move ahead with adding color to your ad, it could turn out to be a good investment.

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