Hi, everyone, so I see that there are many threads about matching the correct pantone colors, but I am wondering how designers actually go about it. Can any designers who have experience with logos and branding chime in?
The way I have been working until now is that I just pick colors with my color picker and then I tried the cmyk to pantone websites to find a match but what happens is that it is not necessarily the same exact color - it just gives you the closest pantone match.
So I’m wondering, do you work only with the pantone swatch books or the actual pantone books, or do you pick colors and then convert? Do you have the actual pantone books? I’m curious how many people have invested in something like that.
If I pick any color and then find the closest color match, would you then update your color to be that exact color as the pantone one?
And lastly, should I export my pantone logos in a specific way? I see conflicting advice online on different sites.
I just got an email from one of my clients:
I’ve never worked with Pantone colors before! How would I even know what color to use/where to get hold of it?
Please can you ask the designer of your logo for a paint reference for the blue and red colours of your new logo
I need a RAL (preferably) or if not a Pantone reference
The Brand Booklet that you sent me only gives CMYK and RGB colour references which are ok for print but not for paint
I find it so hard to pick colors with good contrast etc. directly from pantone swatches. I find it so much easier to use the color picker cuz then I see where my color falls on the spectrum. But then the pantones don’t match exactly…
It is standard to choose pantone colors from the swatch booklet, as the colors on the monitor are not necessarily showing accurately due to monitor calibration and other settings. You would need to purchase pantone books-they can be quite expensive, but are often available on Amazon used. There are a number of books-coated and uncoated being the most common though there is also metallics etc. Ideally, you and the client would use the swatch book to pick colors, as that is the only way to know how the color will really print. Then you choose that color by number in the software, and often will see that on the monitor it does not look the same as the printed version. If they are getting their design printed on a home printer or somewhere that does not have the capability of printing with pantone colors, then the print would show in the closest cmyk match. But if they are actually printing with pantones, it will be the exact colors from the pantone book, including coatings and finishes shown in the books. If you need to accurately match a cmyk color to pantone, the most accurate wait is to get a good print on a laser printer (or the best print you can get) to accurately see the CMYK color, and then to compare it to the pantone book in order to get the closest match. Matching on the monitor is not accurate enough for jobs where accuracy is crucial.
if i add white to the pantone color to get a good match… is that even a thing?
can i do this because im sort of able to get slightly matching colors when i do this…
