Pantone and CMYK – What’s the difference and how to convert them?
What is the difference between Pantone & CMYK?
Pantone (PMS) colors are often referred to as spot colors and CMYK are considered to process colors.
Pantone (PMS/Spot) colors have an exact color value which is mixed before the printing process. They tend to be used when you need a color to be totally consistent throughout print materials, usually for the purpose of branding. (Think Mcdonalds Yellow, or Yahoo! purple)
CMYK (process) colors are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK. These colors are applied by the press at different angles (screens) in differing amounts to create colors
Here is a color spectrum that identifies the colors achievable through different methods. Pantone, CMYK, RGB, and the visible spectrum. (RGB stands for Red Green & Blue, this is the way that monitors display color, but that’s another subject for another time)
Color Spectrums for RGB CMYK Pantone and visible colors
As you can see, A fair amount of color falls outside of the CMYK region into Pantone. If you convert a Pantone color that falls inside both spectrums you should be ok, but a great deal of other factors (press, pressman, rollers, plates and more) could still effect the color outcome slightly. Therefore CMYK colors are not guaranteed to be a perfect match from one print job to the next. Most times, however, the variation is not even noticeable to the naked eye, but only through a printers loupe at a “spots and dots” level.
If you convert a Pantone color that falls outside of the CMYK spectrum, you will most likely have some variation of your final color. As evidenced in the photo below.
Pantone Colors converted to CMYK values
Generally, Pantone (Spot) colors are more expensive because they require additional services (Mixing the ink, additional plates etc). So as a rule of thumb it is better to convert a Pantone to CMYK when abolute color precision is not an issue. Exceptions to this rule may apply if you are only printing a 1-2 color piece as it is cheaper to use a spot color (requiring one plate) than to try and recreate it with process colors (requiring four plates). Ask your printer if you are uncertain.
How do I convert a Pantone to CMYK?
Well ask 3 designers and you may hear three different answers.
One might tell you the easiest way is to just convert the color in your layout or design software. You can simply click on the color swatch and select CMYK values.
Another designer may tell you to use printed swatch books to get a more accurate match as you are taking the color off the screen (which is RGB not CMYK) and applying it to its intended medium, paper. You can purchase swatches from Pantone or make a visit to your local printing company and ask them for some help (Plug – That’s Whitman Communications if you live in New Hampshire or Vermont)You can also get the Pantone Color Bridge free for joining the Pantone community.
A third designer might tell you to do an online search for color conversions or go to Whitman.biz and use their online color chart.
However you choose to do it, it’s important to know which colors you should print with Pantone and which can be converted to process colors. Learning the difference will not only save you time and money, but also insure you get the high quality print job you’re looking for.
