54
votes
Accepted
Is Pantone becoming antiquated?
Other answers have described in detail why you can't expect 100% color likeness when printing with Pantone inks (mainly because they are not colors but inks).
My guess is that it leaves you with the ...
- 19.2k
40
votes
How are the publishers able to print book covers in neon colors?
Simply they do not print with CMYK, instead they use spot colors.
Spot colors are pre mixed inks and require a printer to print with one more ink. Its a bit like going to a paint shop and ask for a ...
- 55.4k
34
votes
Is Pantone becoming antiquated?
Yeah, you are totally missing something . . . the actual purpose the Pantone system is used for.
There is natural variation in colour when printing on a commercial printing press. (Not talking about ...
- 74.9k
27
votes
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Why do some Pantone colours have actual names?
Pantone's (very fast!) reply, which was signed off for publication here by the very friendly tech rep.
Pantone has many different color sets that are designed to specify and communicate color across ...
- 8,448
26
votes
What does it mean when printers have told me my colour is not a Pantone colour, but in my file it is?
Spot
A Pantone is a Pantone when it's a "spot" color.
Make sure your Pantone swatches have the color type "spot color". Even if you color swatch says Pantone XYZ, it doesn't make ...
- 13.6k
26
votes
Accepted
Do not overprint black text over metallic Pantone colors
Transparent inks can't stick to the surface of metallic inks.
We've recently had this problem at the offset print house where I work. We wanted to print a black and white image where all the white ...
- 19.2k
19
votes
How should artwork be setup for T-shirt printing?
Color Separation
This is the process of taking the artwork and (for the lack of a better term) separating the colors to facilitate the creation of the individual printing plates. To show by example, ...
- 19.9k
18
votes
How are the publishers able to print book covers in neon colors?
There is a lot to unpack here.
An illustrator made a beautiful cover for me in neon, but when we converted the cover from RGB to CMYK what was neon became matte.
No. He did a beautiful cover for you....
- 33.8k
17
votes
Are spot colors limited and why CMYK mix is not treated same as spot color mix?
Simply:
CMYK is not mixed. A printing process generally do not mix colors. It is kind of the holy grail of printing processes but it does not really exist as of yet.
What happens instead is that ...
- 55.4k
16
votes
Are spot colors limited and why CMYK mix is not treated same as spot color mix?
TLDR: No, spot colours are not more limited than CMYK, and they aren't treated the same because they are different printing processes.
Process printing (or CMYK printing, also sometimes called full-...
- 74.9k
15
votes
Is Pantone becoming antiquated?
Let me explore. Some are obvious things. Others need to be further explored.
We had a printing company print 100,000 stickers and even between this
batch there were slight changes of hue
First, we ...
- 33.8k
11
votes
Accepted
How do Pantone coated and uncoated colors relate?
You're pretty much spot on, they are formulated differently for the different papers. Uncoated is a more matte finish whereas coated is for glossier finishes, although in part that is down to coated ...
- 518
11
votes
Accepted
The aging of Pantone Guides
Also depends on where they are stored. if in a dark drawer and only pulled out when used, they will maintain accurate color longer.
I've never replaced mine just because it's been a year -- I mean ...
- 199k
10
votes
Accepted
Pantone CMYK Values don't add up to 100 - How to make the ink mixture?
CMYK colours rarely will add up to 100, and there is no reason they should.
Each of the numbers in CMYK (xx,xx,xx,xx) ARE percentages of coverage of each colour, Not ratios of the total.
A lot will ...
- 4,693
10
votes
Pantone and process mismatches
In my experience brand color palettes are often inaccurate and overly simplified.
This is probably done to make it easier to use for amateurs and keep people on a "need to know basis", but ...
- 19.2k
9
votes
How should artwork be setup for T-shirt printing?
My answer applies to silkscreen printing only so make sure that's the kind of printing you are dealing with before using this information and also double check the specifics with your printer, better ...
- 8,425
9
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to have a lower/higher quality of Pantone inks and what influences it?
Interesting question.
Pantone is not a manufacturer of inks, Pantone is a color matching system.
When you're using Pantone colours
You are not using a "Pantone color", you are using a color that ...
- 33.8k
9
votes
Are spot colors limited and why CMYK mix is not treated same as spot color mix?
Alright a typical printer has 4 cartridges, CMYK. It looks kinda like this with the black cartridge usually a bit larger because it gets used more frequently:
If you print on this printer and the ...
- 22.9k
8
votes
How should artwork be setup for T-shirt printing?
What does it mean to colour separate the artwork in T-Shirt printing?
To color separate the artwork means the printer will typically isolate CMYK or the pantone colors for one plate/screen. This ...
- 18.2k
8
votes
Which pantone book should I get?
Bridge guides provide "process color simulations of all solid PANTONE Color". In other words, the bridge guides are all printed in CMYK to match Pantone spot colors as close as possible. You see the ...
- 199k
7
votes
Accepted
How to determine a matching color code from a physical sample?
Get your (or borrow a) Pantone swatch book and hold it up next to the wallpaper until you find a close match.
- 49.9k
7
votes
The aging of Pantone Guides
My experience is that yes, the colors do change but in the end it really depends what kind of use you are making of your charts. The Pantone people are obviously responsible for consistency so they ...
- 8,425
7
votes
Why does Pantone color bridge tell me one thing, but illustrator another?
With your Adobe CC programs comes a set of color books files. They are lookup tables with measured absolute Lab colors for each ink.
When converting a Pantone swatch to CMYK in Illustrator, the Lab ...
- 19.2k
6
votes
Illustrator and CMYK or RGB mode when using Pantone colors?
CMYK.
The Pantone matching system is a print production ink system. Print production always uses CMYK as a basis. Pantone colors have absolutely no basis in the RGB spectrum.
- 199k
6
votes
Which pantone book should I get?
match specific colors across different media (print and digital)
There is no digital 'match'.
Pantone is a company that sets color standards for custom printing inks (and some other things, but ...
- 49.9k
6
votes
What is the difference between Pantone black and Pantone process black
Process black is a more transparent ink, which will give you a grayish look.
If you want a darker black use for example Neutral black 165-1-7c. But it is important than you talk to the printer and ...
- 33.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Pantone to RGB print on fabric?
But how is this achieved?
The system is not perfect. I personally do not like a lot of dumb decisions they made. But the basic idea is that they have:
A catalog of consistent printed colors.
A set ...
- 33.8k
6
votes
CMYK to RAL or PANTONE conversion
Conversion is Futile, as the Borg would say.
For this type of situation, and to save ANY doubt, you need a set of Pantone colour charts.
Your client picks a colour, and the final sign is delivered ...
- 4,693
6
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't the Pantone Color Finder use same preview color for Coated and Uncoated?
A coated Pantone® sample does look different than an uncoated Pantone®. I guess if you'd never seen it in person that this might be hard to imagine. If you can get your hands on an actual color book ...
- 1,830
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