They go on to say, “Over the last 45 years, Pantone has expanded its color matching system concept to other color-critical industries, including digital technology, textiles, plastics, architecture and contract interiors and paint. It continues to develop color communication tools for a variety of industries and aggressively adopts new digital technology to address the color needs of design and production professionals.”
That’s all well and good, but how does that help us in the graphic design industry? For those of us working in the suite of Adobe applications, the Pantone Matching System (PMS) is the salt, pepper, sugar, ketchup, mustard and ever other spice and condiment on the creative dinner table. But how do we keep up with changes and additions to the world of PMS colors?
To keep up with changes and additions to the PMS color libraries you could try perusing the Pantone website. But you may get hopelessly lost. It is a profoundly content heavy site that may lead to nothing but confusion.
THE CURRENT CONFUSION:
Pantone Matching System v. Pantone Plus Series
The current version of Adobe’s Creative Suite is CS6. But, as things usually go in our industry, most of us are hesitant about adopting the new version until it’s been tried and tested by others...and also have to wait for the corporate budget makers to approve new software purchases. So that means that most of us are still working in CS5...at best.The problem here is that Pantone has replaced the Pantone Matching System with the Pantone Plus Series. But the Plus Series is not available in Adobe CS5 or earlier apps. Adobe’s CS6 applications have moved on to the Plus Series. This leads to problems when down-saving a CS6 file to an earlier version. For one thing, the Plus Series colors look different in CS5 and earlier. Another problem is that you may get an error message saying something to the effect of ‘the version of your app does not support the color libraries in the file you are attempting to open.’ This leads to another issue.
The Plus Series was released with 1,341 colors. And then they released a supplement to the Plus Series referred to as ‘336’. Pantone says these 336 colors will “Unleash Your Passion”. Really? I think it’s more like they printed thousands of books and guides, then realized they were missing a bunch of pages, so they had to come up with some marketing mumbo-jumbo to sell these additional colors.
So you can buy these new Plus Series printed guides, along with the supplement, but you can’t add the supplement digitally to your version of CS6 without first buying Pantone’s new Color Manager software for $49. I’ve provided the link on the 'cheat sheet’ below.
On the ‘Pantone Cheat Sheet’ below I’ve added a link to a page on Adobe’s site which helps with some of the issues using CS5, CS6 and the new Plus Series.
PANTONE CHEAT SHEET
What I will attempt to do here is provide this Pantone Cheat Sheet providing essential Pantone information that may be useful to graphic designers, production designers and printer reps working with files generated in the suite of Adobe graphic design applications.
Pantone Color Finder
To quickly find a color based on a number you are provided, use this Pantone Color Finder:
Pantone Numbering System Explained
This is a useful page on the Pantone site that helps to break down all of the color systems and numbering schemes. Take your time and read this page. It really helps.
Working with Adobe Applications: Pantone Matching System v. Pantone Plus Series
This is a link to a helpful page on Adobe’s site which assists in making sense of how the earlier Pantone Matching System and the new Pantone Plus Series relate to the version of Adobe apps you are using.
The Essential Printed Formula Guide (Fanbooks) and Solid Chip Books
If you need to update just the staple Pantone formula guides and solid chip books that we are all familiar with, these are the links to those guides and solid chip books. If you buy either of these sets of books you are eligible to download the new Pantone Color Manager software for free.
The new Plus Series Coated & Uncoated Formula Guide Fanbooks:
The new Plus Series Coated & Uncoated Solid Chip Books:
The new Plus Series Color Bridge Coated & Uncoated Formula Guide Fanbook:
Pantone Color Manager Software
There is no more free lunch from Pantone. You used to be able to go to the Pantone site a download the digital library plug-ins for your Adobe Apps. No more. You must buy ($49) the new Pantone Color Manager software to download and install the library updates. And even though Adobe CS6 comes with the new Plus Series libraries, it does not come with the 336 passion unleashing colors. If you want to unleash your passion you must click and buy from the following link.
Adobe Community Color Management Discussion Forum
There are a number of issues that arise when working with color in Adobe apps using the Pantone color systems and libraries. This Adobe color management discussion board can be very helpful.
Mobile Apps
I highly recommend downloading the myPANTONE app for either iPhone, iPod Touch or Android. There is also the myPANTONE X-Ref for iPhone and iPod Touch. A really cool feature of these apps is that you can click a photo of anything and the app will give you a set of PMS colors that match colors in the image.
Read more about these apps at the following links:
myPANTONE 2.0 for iPhone and iPod touch:
myPANTONE for Android:
myPANTONE X-Ref for iPhone and iPod Touch:
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