Color Matching Systems
Pantone? PMS? CMYK? What does it all mean?
These terms are all commonly used in reference to the Pantone® Matching System (PMS), the most widely adopted color standard system in the world. Using this system, Pantone, Inc. defines a common language for designers, manufacturers, and clients to maintain accurate color consistency throughout the entire creative process.
The Pantone color system has two primary color guides related to printing: spot color and process color.
Spot colors are created by mixing precise amounts of pigment as defined by Pantone's ink formula guide. They are mixed and applied directly during printing. Tints or gradations of that color can be achieved by using a screen dot pattern to create variation in the color value. Each of Pantone's 1,114 spot colors has a formula that uses 13 base pigments to create the exact color specified from the Pantone color matching guide.
Process colors, or CMYK colors, are created using only four inks-cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. In contrast to the creation of spot colors where pigments are mixed together, process colors are applied in separate layers using dot screens of each of the four inks. Viewed in combination with each other, these layers give your eye the perception of the desired color. The Pantone system specifies the percentages of each ink needed to achieve the desired color, and the Pantone process guide shows the expected result. The vast majority of the world's printed material is produced using process color, and there is a special subset of Pantone colors that can be reproduced using CMYK.
Spot colors and process colors are the most commonly used systems for printed materials. The Pantone Matching System, however, is a rich library that includes references for a variety of color selection including textiles, plastics, metallics, pastels, Hexachrome, tints, and more.
Whatever method is used, the Pantone Matching System is a valuable tool to make sure that the color in the final design piece is what the printer, the designer, and most importantly the client, expects to see.
About BIG Design
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