Rich black and pure white opacity overlays...

Hey guys,
I'm trying to design a business card that uses a subtle radial gradient from rich black (100, 40, 100, 40) to dark grey. Something like this actually:
http://s3.envato.com/files/156075.jpg
Anyways, I'm doint the gradient in photoshop because I figure the gradient will be smoother than doing it natively in Illustrator or Indesign. Anyways, when create the gradient, the dark grey appears redish because of the multi ink in the black. When I create in in RGB using a 0, 0, 0 value for black, and 230, 230, 230 value for the grey, it obviously renders fine. When I convert that RGB to CMYK, it still looks great. I rounded up the CMYK values that had decimals, and it looks good.
Is this really bad practice to achieve a CMYK gradient? I imagine it is, but it's only going to an online digital printer. Just curious what you're thoughts are on this workflow.

I think you are over complicating your workflow and relying too much on how the gradient is rendered on-screen.  The final determinator is the output device and how it is "printed", which involves  the RIP, haltone screen frequency, press, and paper.  The techology is very sophisticated and really makes full use of your understanding and expectations, not as a consumer, but of a professional.  I see absolutely no reason for generating the gradient in Photoshop and bouncing to and from RGB.  The bitmap is actually going to limit your file's effectiveness.  And, I see no reason why a gradient will display with a mid or low end color cast if it is built properly.  That could be your display and/or the file's preview.  Your sample exhibits a very subtle "Gray-to-Gray" blend, so I wonder if you'd consider lower numbers of your gradient's start ( i.e., 60C, 24M, 60Y, 24K ) and end with 6C, 2.4M, 6Y, 2.4K.  Also, because you are using 100C, 40M, 100Y, and 40K, your so-called "Rich Black" is going to print on the warm side and is not balanced in order to print neutral.  So, it could be that, as you ramp down from your original 100C, 24M, 100Y, 40K, the mids and highlights could render as brown or reddish brown.  A good way to check these numbers and how they print is to get an actual print ( book ) of process color percentages in different levels.  Check sites like publishingperfection.com for reference process color books.  That way, you can have more confidence in your percentages and actually see how they print using different percentage scales.  Now, you did reach your final destination whereas you got what appears to be acceptable color.  So, please share what your final percentages are and how the deviate from your original.

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