Pantone Color Libraries will be removed from future Adobe updates

[Macmann]

Starting in March 2022. Members, how will this affect you?

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/adobe-color.html

 

[gordo]

Starting in March 2022. Members, how will this affect you?

https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/adobe-color.html

There's not much info on the Adobe site - except this: To minimize the impact of this change, we are working on an alternative solution for the affected products. "To minimize the impact of this change, we are working on an alternative solution for the affected products."
Maybe we should wait until they publish their alternative?
Maybe Pantone's connect system? Pantone Connect for Adobe Creative Cloud

 

[Dov Isaacs]

The trouble is that March 2022 is not that far away!

The “impact of this change” can be quite dramatic depending upon what “the alternative solution” provided by Adobe (and Pantone) happens to be.

For example, if the only change being made is to no longer provide the libraries and swatches with the software, but the mechanisms for their use is not stripped from the software, conceivably you should backup all those library and swatch definitions currently available to you now and have them available to restore to the proper locations for releases beginning in March.

On the other hand, if Adobe strips out support for the installation of and subsequent access to any color libraries and swatches, there is a major problem for anyone using colors other than process CMYK, process RGB, or any ICC color managed CMYK or RGB color space. This especially affects InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat users involved with print.

I would strongly recommend the following:

(1) Retrieve and save any and all color books and swatch definitions you currently have.

(2) Make Adobe executives painfully aware that changes to color support in the Adobe Creative Cloud applications will adversely affect your professional operations and may result in your need to seek alternative software solutions for creative content creation destined for anything other than glowing pixels on-line.

- Dov

 

[bteifeld]

This may just be a business-motivated gesture to force everyone to buy subscriptions to Pantone Connect, even though you cannot batch download swatch L*a*b* numbers of entire fan decks. Pantone Color Manager can still do this, at least for now. By this I mean- Pantone Color Manager can export entire fan decks as ASE and ACB files.

One wonders whether Corel and Serif(Affinity) will follow in this.

 

[gordo]

Dov, do you still have any contacts at Adobe that you could get in touch with to shed some light on why the change?

 

[Dov Isaacs]

This may just be a business-motivated gesture to force everyone to buy subscriptions to Pantone Connect, even though you cannot batch download swatch L*a*b* numbers of entire fan decks. Pantone Color Manager can still do this, at least for now. By this I mean- Pantone Color Manager can export entire fan decks as ASE and ACB files.

One wonders whether Corel and Serif(Affinity) will follow in this.

Over the last number of years, especially since leaving the ink business, Pantone has been quite vocal about wanting to have a direct relationship with those using its assets (i.e., the Pantone color definitions) in which Pantone could sell subscriptions as opposed to an indirect relationship that is currently in place.

Note that one of the main reasons for the lack of success of the ISO CxF/X-4 spectral data format (ultimately for embedding in PDF 2.0 and PDF/X-6 files) has been Pantone's resistance to allowing such spectral data to be accessed other than dynamically from the cloud as part of a direct license/subscription with Pantone (as opposed to being embedded in a PDF or any other file format).

- Dov

 

[Dov Isaacs]

Dov, do you still have any contacts at Adobe that you could get in touch with to shed some light on why the change?

I am going to try find out what is really going on although I cannot guarantee anything. Current Adobe management certainly is not a fan of either Dov or for that matter printing.

- Dov

 

[bteifeld]

Maybe the Pantone monopoly deserves strong consideration under anti-trust law based on the essential facilities doctrine. They essentially are giving branding to a spectral power distribution/L*a*b* number
and acting as a choke point for color communication.

 

[chriscozi]

Maybe the Pantone monopoly deserves strong consideration under anti-trust law based on the essential facilities doctrine. They essentially are giving branding to a spectral power distribution/L*a*b* number
and acting as a choke point for color communication.

Maybe those in the EU could give it a go?

 

[Joe]

The change is going to be to Adobe Color which will be Adobe's own color system.

 

[DYP]

This may just be a business-motivated gesture to force everyone to buy subscriptions to Pantone Connect, even though you cannot batch download swatch L*a*b* numbers of entire fan decks. Pantone Color Manager can still do this, at least for now. By this I mean- Pantone Color Manager can export entire fan decks as ASE and ACB files.

One wonders whether Corel and Serif(Affinity) will follow in this.

One interesting thing is that most RIPs can export the color libraries that they have or that you create or alter as ASE files. Big question will Adobe allow you to import them in the future.

 

[Dov Isaacs]

The change is going to be to Adobe Color which will be Adobe's own color system.

The trouble is that we don't know exactly what the change(s) will be, only three months ahead of such change(s). That is certainly not enough time to allow for customers to make potentially very significant changes to workflows that have been in place for well over two decades.

- Dov

 

[abc]

The more I think about this, the more disastrous it is.
What will happen if you open an existing job with Pantone colors in a version that does not support them?

This is not going to end well for anybody!!

 

[Dov Isaacs]

The more I think about this, the more disastrous it is.
What will happen if you open an existing job with Pantone colors in a version that does not support them?

This is not going to end well for anybody!!

Before further speculation, let's find out exactly what Adobe's plan is! I'm working on that through my sources!

- Dov

 

[Dov Isaacs]

Before further speculation, let's find out exactly what Adobe's plan is! I'm working on that through my sources!

- Dov

I have just send out an enquiry to my contacts. Stay tuned!!!!

- Dov

 

[Joe]

They do have a website for "Adobe Color"

https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel

 

[Joe]

And from the Adobe FAQ page:

Pantone color
What are Pantone Matches?
Color themes on Adobe Color can now be instantly converted into Pantone® colors which are used in printing, textiles, and manufacturing. Use these colors in Adobe applications when creating your designs.

How do I convert my color themes to Pantone colors?
Open a theme and scroll down to Pantone Matches. Open the Pantone Matches menu and select the Pantone book you wish to use. Your swatches will automatically be converted into Pantone colors. You can download an image with the color information, or an ASE file which can be used to add your Pantone colors to the swatch panel in Adobe applications.

How do I use Pantone colors in Adobe applications?
Your Pantone color themes are available in the Libraries panel. In Photoshop, double-click a swatch in your theme to add to your active color. In Illustrator and InDesign, right-click the theme and select Add Theme to Swatches.

For more information on working with swatches in Illustrator, click here.

For more infromation on working with swatches in InDesign, click here.

 

[gordo]

Current Adobe management certainly is not a fan of either Dov or for that matter printing.

- Dov

Sounds like an unhappy camper there :-(

 

[Dario]

I'm all ears

 

[bteifeld]

Maybe those in the EU could give it a go?

Maybe.

Here's something from DOJ in the US:

Competition And Monopoly: Single-Firm Conduct Under Section 2 Of The Sherman Act : Chapter 7

This is archived content from the U.S. Department of Justice website. The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function. Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions about the archive site.

www.justice.gov