How do we get your Colours to match?

There are probably not too many people outside of the printing industry have heard about Pantone colours and their importance in the print process…

As a start point, you might be surprised to learn that Pantone developed the first colour matching system as recent as 1963. This consisted of a large number of small cardboard sheets, printed on one side with a series of related colour swatches and then bound into a small “fan deck”.

• This system became commonly known as the ‘Pantone Matching System’ or the ‘PMS’ system.
• Its goal was to allow designers to ‘colour match’ specific colours when a design enters production.  

The system proved to be very popular and was widely adopted by graphic designers and reproduction and printing houses … and is still used today to specify colours for a wide range of industries.

By standardising the colours, different manufacturers in different locations can all reference a Pantone numbered colour, making sure that colours match without direct contact with one another.

The most commonly referenced colours are in the Pantone solids palette.

The Pantone Solid palette consists of 1,341 colours, identified by three or four digit numbers, followed by a C or U suffix.

Pantone also has a Process palette which consists of more than 3,000 colour variations digitally created with CMYK process printing (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black)

Work printed using CMYK is also referred to as a 4 colour process.

Pantone also has a Textile palette, which consists of 1,925 Pantone specifically for Fashion and Home colours.

And to further the use and versatility of Pantone there is a ‘Plastics Palette’ which consists of 735 transparent and 1,005 opaque plastic colour chips.

It is indeed difficult to imagine a world without the use of Pantone!