![]() ![]() Printing them like this would result in less vibrancy but would no longer require an extra ink channel to be used.ĭigital printing became a challenge for Pantone because users were no longer able to add additional colors to their standard CMYK process colors. These books showed the Pantone colors after they were converted to CMYK colors. When offset printing became more standardized through ISO, SWOP, and EuroScale standardizations, Pantone also started offering Pantone Process books. And, it always required a fifth ink channel (or more, depending on the amount of Pantone colors used) to be added to the printing process. Mixing the colors was done first by hand using scales, and later with fully automated and expensive ink mixing systems. That said, this simplicity did come with costs. This system was revolutionary, especially back in the day when larger offset printing companies had entire collections of ink cans containing the named ink colors. All numbered colors are made by mixing the 15 named ink colors using recipes that can be found in the Pantone books, right underneath the colored swatches. Today’s Pantone books contain more than 1300 different colors, of which approximately 15 are named the rest are given specific numbers. Instead of referencing ink recipes and mixing percentages, people now could simply name the color they wanted - like ordering off a menu at a restaurant. This provided a huge amount of value as it made it easy for designers and printers to talk about color. So the question is: what happens now? Will Pantone’s move to a separate, user-purchased subscription model pay off? Is the Pantone system still the best solution for working with specific brand colors? To answer this, let’s dive a little deeper into the technology and science behind printing accurate colors! Historyīelieve it or not, Pantone started as an ink formulation company - mixing pigments into specific colors and naming them. However, for the modern print service provider, it is an entirely different story: printing Pantone colors has become increasingly difficult with the digitization of printing technologies. Pantone became wildly popular in the era of offset and screen printing and is still popular amongst designers. It looks like Pantone is pushing users towards that model and Adobe was not willing to facilitate by including a Pantone license in their subscription fees, like it used to do in the past. ![]() This however requires the user to have an active Pantone subscription on top of paying for the Adobe Creative Cloud. Pantone also developed an extension that can be used with Adobe software, which gives access to the online Pantone libraries on PantoneLIVE. ![]() Over the past few years, Pantone has been focusing on PantoneLIVE and moved its business more and more into the direction of a subscription-based service. Allegedly, Adobe was no longer willing to pay for the license fees Pantone is charging. However, many sources close to the companies are reporting a different story. The companies’ official statements are putting a lot of positive spin on the announcement, and promise that while Adobe and Pantone’s marriage is over, they will continue to collaborate to give the user the best experience possible. To those that license Pantone Libraries, or develop tools that utilize Pantone libraries, this may have even been a long time coming. While the announcement came as a surprise for most, there have certainly been warning signs. 2022 has started with what is possibly the biggest news in the Graphics Industry in years: “ Adobe to drop support for Pantone libraries in March of 2022”! Needless to say, this will have consequences for anyone involved in graphic design and printing services. ![]()
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