Crossing the colour bridge with PANTONE

Although many PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM Colours can be successfully reproduced in four-colour, some cannot because of the inherent limitations of process printing. The colour bridge guide displays 1,089 PANTONE colours in fan guide format on coated stock alongside their closest four-colour process match.

The CMYK screen tint percentages are provided for each process colour and RGB and HTML values are included for the solid colours. Including conversion formulas for multiple colour spaces in a single guide makes it easier for designers to evaluate colour choices when repurposing content for different media. A free colour library download that includes the new CMYK screen tint builds for use in supported applications is available from www.pantone.com.

"Today's creative professionals are expected to design projects that can be executed across all forms of media. The versatility of the colour bridge guide makes it an indispensable tool for this kind of work," said Richard Herbert, president of Pantone, Inc. "The guide now provides better CMYK matches for solid PANTONE Colours along with the colour data needed to optimally display PANTONE Colours on monitors and Web pages. We also produced the guide using an all digital workflow to better emulate designer's current workflows."

Superior colour consistency

The reproduction of colour to exact standards is vitally important to designers, printers and clients. Most of the problems related to matching colours on the press are caused by the wide divergence of equipment, software, workflow and expertise of print service providers. There aren't standards for the materials and processes employed in print production.

The 2005 colour guides are produced on Pantone's new customized KBA printing press, which has been precision-engineered for improved colour consistency. The press uses state-of-the-art printing technology with integrated colour measurement controls to reproduce colours with even greater consistency and tighter tolerances. This new technology greatly improves this critical process.

The colour bridge guide was produced using a digital workflow based on ICC profiling. The spot to CMYK matching was first generated by software and then visually fine-tuned, resulting in better CMYK matches to PANTONE Colours than in the PANTONE solid to process guides. Production of the guide is in compliance with ISO ink standard 2846-1, and where applicable, ISO 12647-2 for printing the halftone dots.

The 2005 colour bridge guide is printed on brighter, whiter paper to reflect the most commonly specified paper used by designers today. The stock is also more durable, which protects the guide when used in the field to accompany professionals to client presentations or on press runs.

Pricing and Availability

The PANTONE colour bridge guide is in stock and available immediately in Australia and New Zealand at www.print21.com.au for AUD$249.00 + postage + GST.