CMYK to Process pantone spot.

[Nervous]

Is there an easy way to convert a CMYK build to spot color. Like 10%=C, 20%=M, 5%=Y 0%=K, What would be the best way to get the pantone spot color?


Thanks,
Greg

[kaiserwilhelm]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

If I understand correctly then I will offer what I do.

Go into photoshop. Double click foreground color. Put in your CMYK values. Now, click on
Color Libraries. Pull down to Pantone Solid Coated or Pantone Solid Uncoated.
It will show you the closest PMS match to your CMYK build that there is.

[JohnM]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

Use the art directors tool kit and put in the values it will give you approximate PMS values... look at the attachment I posted.

Go to that tab hit the check the box and the bottom and click color box next to where it says "Find colors similar to:" the tab to the left of the picture pops up, put in your values and then hit the loop next to it and you should see the best match at the top with other close options. It's not perfect but it works ok.

Edited by: John Moriano on Jan 23, 2008 3:55 PM

[LoneGoose]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

Maybe this answer is too obvious to be seen immediately, but, you could look in a Pantone Solids swatch book to find the colour you like...

[Nervous]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

Well if I was the designer and I am not. Would be some what time consuming, but if and when I spec the wrong pantone which will happen soon than later.
Just want to make sure that I'm getting the closest match to keep everyone happy.


Thanks,
Greg

[eskopdl]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

Shameless plug.

EskoArtwork's PackEdge editing software can convert any colour build to the nearest Pantone match in two clicks. One to ask for it, one to confirm. After that point all objects with that build in the document are converted. http://www.esko.com/Web/site.aspx?p=824

Otherwise, I'm a big fan to the art directors tool kit as well. - peter

[michaelejahn]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

@ Greg Watts,

Okay, perhaps I don't really understand the question.

- so, you are saying that somehow - you are presented with the task of converting a CMYK value into a Pantone spot color- and (I will assume) that somehow, you have to take either part of a Photoshop image - or perhaps simply an object (text, logo, tint box) and convert the color space of that object to some Panone sport color - so that (when you print the separations) that these image areas or objects are now spot plates ?

What applications are you going to use - are there files the authoring files (you know, Quark or CS3 files) - are is all you have a PDF ?

This seems so incredibly backwards workflow wise I simply can't understand why the designer would not START with creating the artwork using Spot colors - and yes, I can see this would be a very time consuming workflow to solve !

Is this for packaging / label prepress jobs ?

[LoneGoose]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

My sentiments exactly, Michael.

And I don't see why my suggestion of 'just find one in a swatch book' was pooh-poohed. If the computer tells you to go with 339C but 340C is more what the client wants ... which one would you go with?

[satmoll]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

where do you get this art directors tool kit?

[almaink]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

Get it here my copy came bundled with my G5 tho.
http://www.code-line.com/
another cool tool for cmyk to spot, is this script for Illustrator, that gives possibilities for cmyk to spot.
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/exchang...&extid=1045730

[kyle]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

If you use Photoshop to determine the spot color, you should probably assign your press profile to the image first. Photoshop uses the document profile when finding the closest match.

[John Setchell]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

No one seems to have noticed Pantone's FAQ that suggests using Adobe Photoshop to find the nearest solid color from a CMYK specification:

http://pantone.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...p?p_faqid=1195

[WharfRat]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

You should use "Absolute" rendering intent, as well.

MSD

[michaelejahn]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

@ John

HA HA HA HA HA -- phew, now THAT was a funny post. really got me laughing on that one..

you wrote;

"No one seems to have noticed Pantone's FAQ that suggests using Adobe Photoshop to find the nearest solid color from a CMYK specification:

http://pantone.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...p?p_faqid=1195

Okay, so perhaps YOU did not noitce a few things about that post;

First, you probably dod not notice the date - 2001 !

"At 12/11/2001 03:43 PM we wrote - "

In 2001, Adobe was still shipping version 3.x of Photoshop, and if memory servers me correctly, there may not have been the proper required LAB values (that John Knoll 'fudged' into the application, never mind that the CMYK values were based on SWOP printing on a number 5 sheet, which no one printed on in 2001 anyway. My point here is that still, today, that specifying a CMYK value for a Pantone book is flawed, as the method that Pantone comes up with CMYK values is based on a single, very controlled print condition that may not be identical to the method used by the print service provider being used on the project.

So, what to do ?

If you have a spot color in mind, call you printer, and ask them the best way to specify it.

Buy the Pantone Colo Bridge fan book (if you do this sort of thing all the time)

http://www.pantone.com/pages/product...x?pid=293&ca=1

BUT -- Many Pantone colors are mixed with White ink in them and colors like rubine and rhodamine - Barbie Pink is a great example .

in some cases like PANTONE 18-2133 TPX Pink Flambé - you cannot simulate the color with CMYK inks on a printing press, so you would have to actually buy this ink and run it on press as a special (spot) color. As well, you cannot simulate this color on an RGB monitor, no matter how well it is calibrated.

Another more common color that people struggle with is Pantone 150 (an orange-ish color) - this color cannot be simulated very well using CMYK inks, but a monitor can represent it fairly closely.

So basically, there are only about 42% of the Pantone library that can be reliably simulated and visually match using CMYK printing
(TR001 SWOP) - if they were to printing using Pantone Hexachrome printing (a 6 color process) this increases to about 89-92% - but this is some tricky business and outside the skill set or equipment possessed by most printers.

Related to simulation of Pantone colors reliably, this requires support of Device N profiles (none of which are supported by Adobe applications)

So, the short answer here is "you really can't do this all that precisely"

Here is a really great article that speaks to the issue of printing Pantone colors on paper, and what lengths one must go to do this.

http://www.graphicrepro.co.za/asp/results.asp?art=7497

Pantone does not publish defined matches from CMYK/RGB to PANTONE Colors.

[meddington]

Re: CMYK to Process pantone spot.

>In 2001, Adobe was still shipping version 3.x of Photoshop, and if memory servers me correctly, there may not have been the proper required LAB values

Actually, Photoshop version 6 was released in 2001 (version 3.x was back in 1994). Photoshop's support of color management at that time would have been sufficient to detemine 1) the Lab values of a specific set of CMYK related to a specific profile and rendering intent and 2) correlating thse Lab values toward the closest Pantone value. This of course will impart errors due to gamut mapping and rounding, but I would view it as a viable option...for a starting point. The question as to why one would need to render a spot color from given CMYK remains though.