Understanding the Importance of PANTONE Colour Guides for Design and Print

Pantone Colour Guides are essential tools for graphic designers that provide a standardised system for accurately selecting and communicating colour in their designs. With millions of colours available, selecting the right shade or hue can be daunting; Pantone guides simplify this process by providing a universal language for colour communication, allowing designers to ensure consistent colour accuracy across different channels and printing processes. Understanding the importance of Pantone Colour Guides is crucial for graphic designers to create high-quality and visually appealing designs that meet the expectations of their clients and the industry. This article explores the significance of the Pantone Color Bridge and Pantone Formula Guide and their positive impact on graphic design.

Pantone Color Bridge

Pantone Color Bridge is an excellent tool for designers, providing elements of inspiration, verification and specification. It also identifies the different Pantone Spot Colours that can be recreated, making it the most versatile colour guide. In today’s climate, being cost conscious is crucial between company and client, so if you don’t want to leave any room for error, look at the points below explaining why you need a Pantone Color Bridge.

Colour comparison: CMYK vs SPOT

CMYK refers to the four ink plates used in colour printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black), and works by masking colours on a lighter background. With the Color Bridge, you can compare Pantone Spot Colours with the closest CMYK match, giving you the option for more detailed results or if using more of a budget-friendly process for printing is adequate.

Values you need for screen and web design

Most individuals don’t realise that not all monitors display the same colours. People’s perception of colour is also naturally different; therefore, you can spend more money when colours don’t match from screen to print. The inclusion of the CMYK, sRGB and HTML/Hex values printed directly underneath each set of colour patches helps keep colour consistent across everything your client/you do, from websites to print ads and everything else in between.

A handy tip when using the Color Bridge to make your experience easier

Don’t be tricked by bad lighting! People often see a colour they love and wish to recreate, only for it to turn out differently from what they remember. Different lighting conditions affect how we perceive light; colour can look different each time. However, using the Color Bridge’s easy-to-use Lighting Indicator page helps to avoid those situations. This indicator page helps identify which room or outdoor scene is the best setting for accurate colour evaluation. When the patches on the indicator page are identical, you know you've found the correct light for evaluating colour. If the two patches don't match closely, you should seek a better location with better lighting conditions to correctly assess the colour.

Pantone Formula Guide

The universal language of colour

Distinguishing which specific colour a client wants can be tricky. However, the Formula Guide is organised chromatically, making it easier to compare the wide range of shades one colour can have. This portable guide has the widest selection of Pantone Colours, making it the perfect guide for idea creation on the go.  

Pantone Matching System (PMS) corresponds to other Pantone Systems
When a client requests additions to existing items, you need to know if the colours will match.

Thankfully, the PMS palette corresponds with other Pantone matching tools, such as Plastics Standard Chips Collection, helping you with a packaging design that matches existing items and colours.

Pantone Connect saves you time

It is ok to admit you love colour, always using the latest palettes to keep ideas new and fresh. The Formula Guide Set integrates seamlessly with Pantone Connect, making future projects designed digitally with Pantone effortless. Collaborate with your team over Pantone palettes and convert RGB, Hex and CMYK colours to Pantone, immersing your designs with the latest 224 colours.

The Formula Guide includes coated and uncoated stock

Colours don’t always reproduce to the same quality on different forms of non-glossy surfaces. Use the Pantone Formula Guide Uncoated to show how colours can replicate on stationery, recycled paper and other uncoated materials that do not absorb much ink. To reproduce colour to the highest quality on a wide range of materials, we recommend looking at the Pantone Simulator Prints. 

Conclusion

The Pantone Formula Guide is an essential tool for colour communication and matching. With it’s special ink formulations this guide help’s printers accurately achieve Pantone Spot colours on printed materials, creating a common language between printers and clients as a reference, ensuring colours are accurately reproduced in digital and print every time.

For more detailed matching, the Pantone Color Bridge is loved by graphic designers because it is a reliable tool that they can use to ensure colour consistency across different devices and platforms, saving time and money. The Color Bridge also allows designers to experiment with different colour combinations and create custom colours, giving them the freedom to express their creativity.