Quick Overview
• CMYK colors are ideal for full color images, such as photographs.
• Pantone colors on the other hand should be used for stationery and logo designs.

The Reason
The reason a Pantone color should be used is to ensure your branding color is consistent throughout.

Quick Example
A specific example of cost savings is a batch-printing job using CMYK over Pantone. A Pantone color process is more expensive due to the labor involved with printing – ink mixing, loading the press, printing the job and then cleaning the press.

Long Technical Explanation
CMYK (Process) – When printing an image in CMYK, the file is separated into four primary colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. CMYK colors are simulated colors and are not pre-mixed. When an image is recreated there are screen tints made up of small dots that are applied at different angles to the four process colors. The separated colors are than transferred to four different printing plates on the press. The colors are than printed multiple times one after the other to create the final image.

PMS (Pantone Matching System) – On the other hand, PMS colors (also known as Spot or Pantone colors) are particular colors that will accurately reproduce in print. Instead of trying to simulate colors, PMS colors are pre-mixed published color formulas with an existing palette of 14 basic colors. There are however, Pantone swatch books that feature an array of colors aside from the 14 basic color palette. This gives your printed piece the cleanest and truest color result.

Take a look at the door hanger example to the right. Notice that the only 2 colors this door hanger contains is black and red. This specific job was setup properly so the files we received contained color information to print using black ink, and a second color, specifically Pantone (PMS) Red #485.

Since the client picked a specific pantone red and black in the digital files that were sent to us, we were able to print this door hanger using only those 2 colors, which kept cost down and provide extremely sharp printing. However, if the supplied digital files did not specify the pantone red and black, then their graphic design program would select approximated CYMK values to reproduce what looks like the same colors, but are really made up of 4 colors. This not only increases the cost, since more colors of ink are needed to print in 4 colors (full color), but the job also requires more careful attention during production to ensure perfect registration.

For those of you who are curious, keeping perfect registration is the process of aligning all the plates required for your printed job. Each plate needed for printing has 1 color, so if you print in 2 colors, black and Pantone Red 485 for example, then we only need to keep 2 color plates aligned while your job is on the printing press. Concordantly, if you are printing in 4 colors then all 4 plates must be kept in perfect registration while your job is printing. So if one or more plates are not exactly aligned during the printing process, then text and graphics can look blurry and is usually the most common cause of low quality printing.

Basically what you are doing by specifying your colors, is ensuring the printing process is easier and more accurate. Doing so will give you better printing results and also cost less because there is less maintenance, and a fewer number of color plates and ink are needed to print your job.

Using Pantone Colors Will Also provide Consistent Color Reproduction.

One of the biggest advantages in using specific pantone colors in your digital files is the color reproduction will be identical every time you print. The Pantone Matching system was created by Lawrence Herbet in 1963 in order to solve the problems associated with producing accurate and consistent colors by creating standardized colors of ink through detailed measurements and ink mixing. This is how a company such as coca cola can produce the exact red in their logo for example, no matter which printing company they use. Our pantone color specialists literally measure and mix the exact amount of ink required to create the any pantone color your choose, based on this standardized color system. For more information on the Pantone Matching System, please visit www.pantone.com

Pantone colors have been the industry standard for graphic designers and print shops for over 40 years. Using Pantone colors is essential for spot color printing, which is required when the client is printing on a liited budget or has specific color requirements.

Consistency
The Pantone Matching System was created so graphic designers could pick colors from a swatch book and receive accurate color matching on presses printing with Pantone inks. Picking from swatch books printed with the same inks helps ensure the best possible color match when the design is printed.

Why It Works
Pantone colors are created by using pre-mixed Pantone inks according to precisely defined values for each color. A large number of Pantone colors, such as metallic inks, are sold fully mixed.

Paper Variation
Because the ink absorption amount is different on coated (matte or glossy) paper, as opposed to more porous uncoated paper, Pantone uses two separate coated and uncoated swatch books. This way, designers can pick the right color for the paper they're using.

Pantone Colors and Four-Color Printing
Although Pantone colors work best with Pantone inks, Pantone created the Pantone Process Guides so designers who have to print using four-color printing can see what their Pantone colors will look like printed in the basic cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.