a good printer can print 15 colors
i doubt many clients are willing to ab$orb that many plate changes on press
CMYK = a simulation of full color with 4 printing plates, cyan, magenta, yellow & black
Being a competent designer involves understanding the reproduction process
and knowing how to economically contract with 3rd party craftsman
to bring the clients job to completion
heres a great book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0883623382/002-2303086-9797653?v=glance&n=283155This staple text has been valued by publishers, students, designers, print buyers, and many other graphic communications segments since its release in 1934. Comprehensive in scope, it offers a compact education on printing and the related processes. When the seventeenth edition was published in 1997, digital imaging and printing were still considered "parts" of printing. Now in the eighteenth edition, more than relaying its respected, valuable information on the history and conventional processes of the printing industry, this updated text recognizes the recent technological developments within the industry and describes and emphasizes the areas related to this transition: Typesetting and photography have been almost completely replaced by digital imaging; the use of films and their processing and image assembly are being replaced by computer-to-plate, computer-to-plate-on-press, and computer- to-press systems; new digital workflows are replacing conventional workflows; new processless plates and new UV and violet lasers that allow use of conventional plates; information on toners or digital inks for digital presses; and color management systems.