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Ace Tips: Pantones & Color Matching
Color plays a huge role in how your brand is seen, but it’s not always as simple as picking a shade on your screen and expecting it to look the same in print. Computer monitors use light to display color, while printers use ink. That means the same design can look different once it’s produced.
Understanding Pantones and color matching is key to taking the guesswork out of printing and making sure your brand colors show up exactly the way you want.
Why Color Can Be Tricky
Color is subjective, and everyone perceives it a little differently. But even beyond perception, the process of turning a digital design into a printed product introduces real challenges.
When you design on a computer, you’re using RGB color. Screens use red, green, and blue light to create color, which is perfect for digital viewing. Printing, on the other hand, uses CMYK ink—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black—that reflects off the surface of the material.
Because RGB and CMYK are two different "languages" of color, what you see on your screen often won’t exactly match what comes off a press.
Factors like the printer, the type of ink, and the material being printed on can all affect the final color. Think of printing color like shooting an arrow—you can aim, but the exact landing spot will vary depending on the conditions. Without a clear target, your printed colors are at the mercy of the printer, ink, and media.
Enter Pantone: Your Color Target
This is where Pantone comes in. Pantone colors act as a target for printed colors, giving designers and printers a standard to aim for. The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is widely recognized in the design and printing industries for providing precise, consistent color references. When you specify a Pantone color, you’re telling the printer exactly what outcome you want, making it much easier to achieve consistency across different prints, materials, and locations.
Pantone was founded in 1956 by Lawrence Herbert, a chemist who developed a standardized system for creating and communicating colors. Each Pantone color has a unique number and a defined formula for ink application. That means printers around the world can match colors reliably, even if the materials or equipment differ.
Using Pantone colors ensures that your printed graphics look like your approved design, minimizing surprises and stress. Without a Pantone target, printers have to rely on approximations, which can lead to colors that are slightly, or sometimes dramatically, different than expected.
Choosing and Using Pantone Colors
Pantone offers several reference books with thousands of color samples. One of the most useful is the Pantone Bridge Book, which shows each Pantone color next to its closest CMYK equivalent. This is a great tool for designers who want to see how a color will print and determine which Pantone options can be closely matched with CMYK inks.
When using design software like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign, Pantone colors can be added to your swatch palette. This ensures that the color you choose is consistent throughout your design.
Even if you don’t have access to Adobe Creative Suite, you can still convert your files to CMYK using programs like Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Keep in mind that not every Pantone color can be perfectly reproduced in CMYK, especially very bright or fluorescent shades. But specifying a Pantone target color still gives you much more control than leaving it up to chance.
Why Pantone Matching Matters
If your graphic print needs to be a specific target color, the only way for us to control the outcome is to add a Pantone Color Match to your order. The Pantone color serves as the target color, giving us a specific color to "aim" at. That means fewer surprises, less back-and-forth, and a higher likelihood that your printed colors match your vision.
If a Pantone Color Match is not added to your order, you are leaving the printed color up to the output of the printer, inks and media. While it adds a little time to production, it ensures your graphics come out with the colors you expect. Color is a critical part of branding, and it shouldn’t be a stress point. Using Pantone colors removes the guesswork, reduces errors, and helps your displays look polished and professional.
Tips for Successful Color Matching
- 1. Always check your design software’s color settings before starting your project. Make sure you’re using CMYK for print files.
- 2. Choose Pantone colors early in the process. This avoids last-minute surprises and ensures consistency.
- 3. Use the Pantone Bridge Book to see how colors will translate from Pantone to CMYK.
- 4. Communicate with our team! Let us know which colors are critical to your brand and request a Pantone match if needed.
- 5. Be aware of material differences. Colors may look slightly different on fabric, vinyl, or other substrates. Pantone matching helps minimize these variations.
Conclusion
Getting color right in print is all about control. Without a clear target, your design is left up to the natural variations of printers, inks, and materials. Pantone colors give you that target, helping your brand colors stay consistent, professional, and true to your vision. By using tools like the Pantone Bridge Book and specifying target colors early, you take the guesswork out of printing and avoid unnecessary stress.
At Ace Displays, we’re here to help you every step of the way. From templates and artwork guidelines to our PMS Color Matching Service, we make sure your trade show graphics look amazing and hit the right color every time.
About Ace Displays
In 2006, Ace Displays was founded in Southern California with the desire to provide quality products at competitive prices with the fastest delivery times in the industry. We believe purchasing an event display and its accessories should be an easy and exciting experience. Leveraging our short lead times to differentiate ourselves, we exist to connect people by providing event solutions that create conversations and lasting impressions.
Our Mission
Our mission is to provide the best event & trade show displays at budget-friendly prices with unparalleled service to ensure we exceed our clients expectations and to foster an environment our employees are proud to work in.
The Ace Method
We are excited to work with you - from meeting your budget to meeting your deadlines - we will help you create a display that looks great and asserts your presence. To aid in what can be a rather laborious process, Ace has developed a 6-step method to get you a display quickly and easily so you can focus your time on other areas of your business and upcoming events.