Insight From Pace GFX: Picking A Pantone

Have you ever received a sample print sample that didn't match what was on your screen?

Picking Pantone colors for your brand and finding a knowledgeable print/production company will solve this problem. Pantone became an industry-standard starting in the 1960s and is now widely used by the printing, paint, interior design, and graphic design industries. As a result, your brand colors will be consistent, from your business card to the logo in the lobby of your offices. Let us walk you through picking a Pantone and our steps to ensure color matches.

Where do I begin?

First, look at the color guides you can purchase from Pantone. Then, think about what material you are trying to color match on digital print, fabric, or paint? Different books focus on different industry needs. This article focuses on the books used for digital CMYK-based printing, more specifically, substrates used in wallcoverings and vinyl wraps. To start, you want to ask yourself, is it an updated book? Many factors can cause the colors to fade and degrade accuracy over time. Therefore, we buy new books at least every two years.?

Now let's discuss how to read your Pantone book. The ones we use for digital print will either have a C or a U following the number. These letters indicate how the color will show on a coated surface(C) or an uncoated(U) surface which is generally associated with non-gloss paper or cardstock. I have found that most companies will stick with the coated surface colors because most of the materials they would like to match on are not entirely uncoated.

How do I know the prints will match?

Specific color inks can be purchased from Pantone and used as a spot color. However, this is usually too costly for most printing endeavors, so we use the CMYK color levels indicated on the swatch. Without a spectrometer, you might need to take more care to print multiple samples to match up to the color in your color book. In this case, checking them in the correct lighting is critical. The book's last page has a color swatch that will look like two different colors if the lighting is not optimal.

In our shop, we have a spectrometer that we use to calibrate how our printers will print the Pantone color. These little machines help eliminate the uncertainty that can come with matching colors with the naked eye and prevent sample rejection from your brand enforcers.

Picking a brand color and matching it across all aspects can seem daunting. However, this knowledge should help you better communicate with the designers, printers, and project stakeholders about your brand colors. And be more confident in brand fidelity across all platforms.

Do you have any more questions about our color matching process or selecting colors? Please reach out in the comment section.