Finally, we get an
answer in this article. Key notes:
- Pantone VP explains: "...the future of Pantone colors in Adobe products lies in add-on software, Pantone Connect, which will let the color systems company sell complete and up-to-date color data directly to its own users. . .Pantone was unable to actively update the library to correct any changes to the color data or to update it with new colors,” Cheng told CreativePro. “We had to find a way to address user problems regarding these outdated libraries.”"
- "On top of the usual Adobe Creative Cloud subscription plans, Pantone Connect will cost $7.99 per month or $35.99 for a full year for the first year and $59.99 annually thereafter."
- "Nothing will prevent a user of the affected software from creating a brand-new color swatch as a spot color, selecting a color using RGB sliders to match the printed Pantone chip."
- "Users of Photoshop on the Mac M1 processor will find that the Extension won’t load at all, as Adobe has changed the file format for add-on software. Users wishing to access Pantone Connect and other Extensions will need to run the Intel version of Photoshop under Rosetta 2 or downgrade to version 22.2.0 via the Creative Cloud app."
- "Existing documents—both native application documents and PDFs generated for publication or distribution—will be unaffected by any changes, with essential color information (though it might be from data that Pantone says is long outdated) remaining embedded in the documents that are created with current tools."
Unfortunately, this isn't a full or even honest (on the part of Pantone) reply.
In the case of the
Pantone VP explanation, Pantone certainly could have provided updated and/or additional
.ACB files for Adobe to distribute as part of the regular updates to the applications. It was apparently Pantone's choice to want a “direct relationship” with and significant additional revenue from Adobe customers that led to their subscription plug-in solution.
In terms of the plug-in compatibility with Macintosh M1 processors, it wasn't that Adobe changed the format of plug-ins but rather, that Pantone hasn't yet released an M1-native version of its plug-in.
Even if you subscribe to Pantone Connect, the entire process of dealing with accessing and using Pantone colors in Adobe applications will become more complex. This is not Adobe's doing!
At this point, January 10, Adobe has yet to say anything publicly (or even privately) about this whole mess. It has maintained radio silence except for the cryptic message on its help pages as discussed at the beginning of this thread.
- Dov