![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Home | Site Map | Buyer's Guide Search |
![]() |
Event Calendar | ![]() |
Article Archive | ![]() |
Message Boards | ![]() |
Classifieds | ![]() |
Product Showcases | ![]() |
News | ![]() |
Advertise | ![]() |
Search | ![]() |
Join Now | ![]() |
![]() |
![]()
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() Pantone Color Matching Basics
Color identity is an important aspect of any brand. It is the sign maker’s responsibility to provide color consistency across various media.
![]()
With so much riding on color consistency, savvy sign makers invest in color matching tools. Pantone, Inc. provides a seamless color language from concept to production that results in consistency across media. Pantone has gained a reputation as a world-renowned authority on color, color systems and technology used for the selection and accurate communication of color across various industries. Since the 1960s, the Pantone name is recognized as the standard language for color communication. "Why choose any old shade of blue when you can specify the exact shade of blue?" asked Scott Buckley, Pantone senior product manager. "When you are talking Pantone to your printer they understand what you are talking about."
What is PMS?
Which products are most useful in the sign industry? The Pantone formula guide, a three-guide set consisting of 1,114 solid Pantone colors on coated, un-coated and matte coated stock, shows corresponding printing ink formulas for each color. The base un-coated formula guide costs about $80. A three-book set of solid chips provides coated, un-coated and matte-coated perforated tear-out chips that can be used for quality control. A two-book set of coated and un-coated solid costs $250. "These are specification chips that designers typically use to make sure the printer matches the right color," said Buckley. "This allows the designer to not only identify the PMS color by number but also shows the printer what the color is supposed to look like."
![]()
Other Pantone color reference guides for the graphic arts include metallics, pastels, tints, duotones, film and foil.
"The biggest challenge these days is trying to gain consistent color on your screen, your web site, your print out for soft proofing, and also on the ultimate output of the product," said Buckley. "We have products that span across that workflow to try and control color throughout the process." The substrate can also make a dramatic impact. Sign makers not only print on coated, un-coated and matte papers, they also print on plastic, vinyl and other materials. "If it is not the same type of stock or even if it's not close to the same type of paper stock that our guides are printed on then it's more difficult to achieve the same color, even if you use the same formulation," said Buckley. "In the sign industry there's going to be even wider variations across different types of materials."
How often should I upgrade my PMS? "Unfortunately, a lot of people are using guides that are 10 years old," said Buckley. "When we updated the guide two years ago, we also changed the paper that they were printed on to update the paper to match the trends in the industry to a brighter and whiter stock of paper. So, of course, printing the colors on this paper will change the way they appear."
To learn more about PMS or color matching theories, visit the Pantone web site at: http://www.pantone.com.
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
© Copyright 1999-2021, All Rights Reserved. |