Pantone and CMYK - How To Ensure Desired Color?

[StreamImports]

Hello,

I heard how because colors on monitors may differ, there were cases where clients received their material not in color they wanted.
I asked people who done it successfully and they told me that firsthand I should opt for pantone colors and not CMYK. I later heard
about pantone color reference books available to buy which I should use to base my color preference on because they have standard
of codes that printers refer to. These books are best way to ensure that I and printer on the same page about color I want.

Other people said that they use online websites for color reference but I wodner how they do it successfully if there can be color
discrepancy between monitors.

Do you use pantone colors book or other source of colors reference? What would you recommend? Should I get the book and if so, which model/standard/type? Some have older year of publication (is this disadvantage?), some are available in glossy and matte coating and also are offered in uncoated.

Thanks

 

[gordo]

At the very least you should have these two Pantone guides: http://www.pantone.com/coated-combo

Your computer display is not an effective way to proof color like Pantone spot and cmyk screen tint builds - it's a guide. You achieve the color you want via specification not appearance.

 

[danremaley]

I've always wondered - what 'standards' are the Pantone books printed to? What are the tolerances?
I personally won't trust any printing without a color or gray bar to measure!

 

[gordo]

I've always wondered - what 'standards' are the Pantone books printed to? What are the tolerances?
I personally won't trust any printing without a color or gray bar to measure!

The standards that Pantone aligns to are described in the first pages of their swatchbooks. Their are grey balance patches immediately following Black only patches in (my) Pantone process swatchbook.
For spot colors grey balance is not relevant. I don't believe there are tolerances since the colors are based on ink mix recipes rather than printed samples.

 

[David Milisock]

streamimports use the Pantone books and pick a great pressman. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Tim-Ellis]

I've always wondered - what 'standards' are the Pantone books printed to? What are the tolerances?
I personally won't trust any printing without a color or gray bar to measure!

Hello Dan,

It can help you a bit there. I was talking to a guy from Pantone the other day and every Pantone book is printed on the same press in New Jersey. Like any other press there are fluctuations in colour. Not all the books match each other.

My guess is that there will be a Delta E tolerance of about 1.5 to 2.0 (but I am guessing there).

(Gordo - don't forget the CMYK in the colour bridge books)

Pantone would remind you that the books are COLOUR GUIDES they are not COLOUR STANDARDS.

Now that X-Rite have bought Pantone, I think you will begin to see a reduced emphasis on the books and a greater emphasis on LAB and spectrophotometry.

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Hello,

I heard how because colors on monitors may differ, there were cases where clients received their material not in color they wanted.
I asked people who done it successfully and they told me that firsthand I should opt for pantone colors and not CMYK. I later heard
about pantone color reference books available to buy which I should use to base my color preference on because they have standard
of codes that printers refer to. These books are best way to ensure that I and printer on the same page about color I want.

Other people said that they use online websites for color reference but I wodner how they do it successfully if there can be color
discrepancy between monitors.

Do you use pantone colors book or other source of colors reference? What would you recommend? Should I get the book and if so, which model/standard/type? Some have older year of publication (is this disadvantage?), some are available in glossy and matte coating and also are offered in uncoated.

Thanks

Hello Stream Imports,

You cannot use your monitor as any kind of colour standard. You would need to buy the most expensive ones out there, keep it calibrated and control how much reflected light hits the screen.

There is no way the clients cheap laptop in their brightly lit office on the desk next to the window can be used to judge colour. You need a decent proofing printer to sign off colour.

Gordo's book combo selection is a great start. You or your company need these. They fade over time. Keep them in a dark place and replace them when they tell you too.

you can buy CHIP BOOKs. These have tear off swatches you can send to the customer for their approval. You can send these out with the job for the pressman to match too.

If you do purchase the PANTONE COLOUR BRIDGE book, check out how many spot colours even Pantone are unable to match with CMYK. I believe it is about 70% of Pantone colours that not achievable in CMYK. Compare the pale greens and oranges where the difference is really obvious.

I find the trick is to work with the colours you know you can print. Spend some time with the print shop that is going to print these jobs. If you can get your ink jet proofer to match their press then the proofs you print for signing off will be close to the finished thing.

It is all about managing the clients expectation. If you do that, you avoid the disappointment.

 

[StreamImports]

Thanks for replies guys.

To try and simplify the answer: When trying to match color, use a reference that matches your media the closest.

If you're designing for print; use a Pantone color book that comes closest to the type of paper you're going to be printing on. I.E. coated, uncoated, matte, spot color, process color, etc.

For example because there were 2 wallets the colors of which I liked I tried to find "saddle" color and "coffee bean" colors on this website: rgb.to/pantone

It shows uncoated, coated and metallic colors but of course monitor will not be able to reflect that but since we are talking about matching as closely as possible and I have 2 monitors, maybe I could use those color codes as guides only? What happens if my Pantone book is older than printer's? There will be problems with matching?

Gordo's book combo selection is a great start. You or your company need these. They fade over time. Keep them in a dark place and replace them when they tell you too.

you can buy CHIP BOOKs. These have tear off swatches you can send to the customer for their approval. You can send these out with the job for the pressman to match too.

Before you mentioned this I thought the only reason to replace Pantone book is them becoming outdated but it seems they also degrade over time even if I keep them in basement? Usually what is the average time period Pantone book holds up to before it starts degrading?

 

[keith1]

Most clients don't want to pay for an 'exact' colour match anyways.

 

[dabob]

No Title

We have a file we run to spec the colors and then use what the press actually prints as your guide to the colors that "it" can actually print . . . see attached screenshot - its a lot of work but it makes it easy to see what colors look like on a particular stock works best in a digital press workflow . . . would be ok to run some on your house sheets for a conventional press . . . .

 

[David Milisock]

Well there's this problem, what conversion process does your application/RIP support and do you have al of them coordinated?

 

[dabob]

Here is an interesting video on the printing of the books - the actual printing part of it starts around 2 minutes in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkqMzLR8kS8

 

[ninaspears]

I appreciate your question, Yes there is vast difference between the colors of monitor and actual CMYK or a pantone. If you have a pantone book with you then it is more easy to distinguish the colors. Simply pull out a specific pantone of a book in front of the screen of monitor you can easily see the difference.