What is Pantone?

A shared language for colour

Before standard systems, a client might approve a colour on one printed sample and receive something visibly different from another supplier. Pantone solved that by publishing a catalogue of colours, each with an identifier and a recipe of base inks in fixed proportions, printed as swatch books called guides. A designer specifies the number, the printer mixes or buys that ink, and both can hold the same guide under the same light to compare. Pantone runs separate systems for graphics, for fashion and interiors, and for product materials. For printed design the relevant ones are the formula guides for spot inks and the guides that show how each colour looks when approximated in process printing.

Spot and process, side by side

Most full colour printing is process printing: cyan, magenta, yellow and black laid down as tiny overlapping dots that the eye blends into every colour of a photograph. It is flexible and economical, but the exact shade depends on the press, the paper and the settings that day. Spot printing uses an ink mixed to the colour before it reaches the press and applied as a flat, solid layer on its own plate or pass. Pantone's article on spot against process colour describes this difference. Spot colours stay consistent between runs and suppliers and can reach colours outside the four ink range, including metallic and fluorescent inks. Many Pantone colours can only be approximated in CMYK, some closely and some poorly.

When paying for spot colour makes sense

Spot colour is worth it when one colour defines a brand and appears across many printed items from different suppliers over years, such as business cards, letterhead, signage, uniforms and packaging. It suits one or two colour jobs, where a spot ink can even be cheaper than full colour. It is also the only route to metallic gold, silver or fluorescent effects. For a short run of flyers full of photographs, it is rarely justified: the photographs need four colour process anyway, and adding a fifth spot ink adds setup cost. In that case the practical step is giving the printer the Pantone reference so they can match it as closely as process inks allow on the chosen stock.

Common mistakes

The most common is copying a Pantone colour's screen preview as a hex value and expecting print to match; screen values are approximations and vary by source. The second is ignoring the coated and uncoated versions of a colour, since the same ink looks different on gloss and uncoated paper and the guides show both. The third is specifying several spot colours in a file that will be printed in four colour process anyway, which the printer then has to convert. The fourth is judging a swatch on screen instead of in a physical guide under daylight conditions. The last is using an old, faded swatch book; printed guides age with light and handling, so brand teams replace them periodically and keep them closed when not in use.

Pantone and the flyer builder

The flyer builder has no Pantone library, no spot colour option and no CMYK output. Colours come from the 99 themes, and text can take a custom hex colour, which is an RGB value for screens. Exports are RGB PDF, PNG and JPG files. For a brand with a Pantone reference, pick a theme close to the brand colours or enter the closest hex value, and tell the print shop the Pantone number when ordering. The shop can then match that colour as closely as its process inks allow, or quote for adding a spot ink on a job where exact colour matters, and supply a printed proof. The exported file cannot carry a spot colour for them, so the reference has to travel with the order.

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