Topic awaiting preservation: What is PANTONE (Page 1 of 1)

In this thread killjoi asked the following question:

quote:

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I was excited to see a thread entitled 'Newbie,' as it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to field novice level questions about printing. Behold my naievity regarding the process as I sheepishly ask the following:

What is PANTONE? I see this in all sorts of graphical programs, but have no clue as to it's significance or what benefits and detractions come from choosing one kind of PANTONE over another.

Does c/(numberhere) stand for how many colors are being used in a print job? Ex., c/7 = 7 colors?

What is a spot color, and why would one use it over a 4 color process?

And perhaps the most significant question, are there any good books out there to help clueless graphic artists? I've been making art on the computer for a while now, but the destination has generally been the web and not print. However, I'd like to start making pieces that are pre-destined for some kind of poster frame or wallscroll.

Thanks, hope I didn't sound like a total moron just now.

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killjoi: Don't hi-jack other people's threads. Start a new thread.

-- not necessarily stoned... just beautiful.

killjoi: I will try to answer some of your questions, although there are several people around here better qualified to answer them than I am.


PANTONE is a standard color system. It is composed of color swatches published by the Pantone company. These swatches are standardized and numbered so that you can go anywhere in the world and say to someone that you want a page printed with Pantone 137 and you should get the same color no matter who the printer is. This is because the number specifies a specific ink manufactured by Pantone.

You can go to any good paper supply store and buy a set of Pantone swatches so that you can have a reference to tell which colors you want to use. There are several other Color Management Systems available, I am most familiar with Pantone. Photoshop has several Color Managment Systems built into the Swatches Palette so if your monitir is calibrated correctly you can pick Pantone colors by using the swatches in Photoshop.

When you print an image on a piece of paper, the colors you see in the image are affected by the inks used, the color of the paper, the screen size and to a certain extent the press used. It is not possible to go to a printer and say "I want the first dot in the upper left corner to be Pantone 137 and the next dot Pantone 452, ....." So what you do is create areas of color in the image and divide the image up into layers (or plates). You can then tell the printer, "I want the first layer printed with Pantone 137 and the second with Pantone 452...."

Most people will try to create an image using only two or three colors: the color of the paper, and one or two colors of ink. The areas of ink for the image are then printed using one pass per color. Each different color is called a "spot color". Each pass you make to print a new color on the paper adds to the cost of printing the image so you try to make the image with as few colors as possible.

The reason you use spot colors instead of four color is that when the press prints a spot color, the printer can use a mask to create an area of color which will all be the same color. When you want to print using YCMK, the printer has to create four screens of tiny little dots from the image. The sizes and placements of the dot on the paper are what create the illusion of a smooth toned image, but if you look at a "full color" image with a magnifying glass you will see that the image is composed of tiny little dots.

Creating the screens and making sure they line up exactly is a lot more work than creating a mask of solid color and making it line up with the masks of any other solid colors in the print so full color printing is considerably more expensive than spot color printing.

I'm sure Fig, jstuartj, and Steve can recommend some good books on using Photoshop for printing. I use the printers Pocket Pal. Its a good reference to have around.

-- not necessarily stoned... just beautiful.


(Edited by hyperbole on 10-14-2004 18:08)

Pantone sells the standard, I don't realy, Basiclly they establish the standard and lience it to color media "inks, Dies, film etc..." manufactures. Inorder to use the name Pantone they must meet the established standard.

Pantone publishs the guides, so you may choose colors, from the standard. Now pantone also produces a 4-Color process guide, but this is depandent on the printer using pantone process inks. But considering the multiple variables involved in process printing, the guide is only a close approxmation.

As Hyperbol points out, cost is an important to factor, spot ink are expensive, as most have to be mixed, and the press must go through a wash up inorder to change inks. In General spot color is only cost effective if runing less then 3 colors.

But cost is often varied, it's best to consult with your printer, he may have a press already running, 4-color, and might perfer to offer a deal over, taking dont the press washing it up. A the next job down the line might be 4-color again.

If you design requires over 3 colors I would advise, thinking carefull before choosing a spot ink. The exception where critical element exists such as a estabished product color, or logo (Coke red, etc...), a large solid area of color is required, or color exist that are unreproducable by any other means. For instance Dayglows, Metalics, Pearls, and Varnishs.

I think the "C" you are refering to is the Pantone paper stock code, as in Pantone 108c, or Pantone 108u etc... This codes specific the stock the guide was printed on as the resulting color will change depending on the paper type. Typically guides are printed on two stocks "C" Coated and "U" Uncoated.


A good resource is: www.pantone.com

The Printing Pocket Pal is top on my list as well, I have a few others I use in classes, but I will have to get you the names from home later. Thou some you may have to find used at they are likely out of print.

A few other sites that are useful:

http://www.dtp-aus.com/dtpstrt.html

www.creativepro.com


J. Stuart J.

(Edited by jstuartj on 10-14-2004 21:12)