My Pantone colors on screen suddenly look dull

I just realized that when im working with PMS colors now, they all look really dull from how it generally looks. I know when my separations or flattner preview is on, then colors can look a little different on screen. Also my transparancy blend space is set to CMYK as well. When I save to PDF, that PDF also looks dull. Not sure where else to look for why this is going on

Very weird! I am working with Pantone Solid+Uncoated as Spot. Im working with 201 Burgundy and 356 Green. I looked at the All Spots as Process area and it wasnt checked. Checked or not, nothing seems to change but it always has that dull look like your image shows.
I did try something though, I made a 201 and 356 box in Illustrator, copied and pasted to a new ID document and it looks perfect, I attached a side by side image also. I tried to also paste it directly into the open document I already had and it pasted as dull. I then copied from the bright document in ID and pasted into the existing one and it still pasted as dull. In fact, however I pasted, it was always dull unless it was a brand new blank ID document. All I can think is I must have hit a shortcut key somewhere without realizing it and it turned something on somewhere

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Screen suddenly looks like a colorful barcode

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Hey.
I've been having exactly the same problem since two weeks.
Let me explain.
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Okay, so at school no problem at all.
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GREAT!
i closed it down, reopened it, but the barcode didn't get out as well the first time in the bus.
i am getting very scared.
after 15mins of trying to open it, close it, the barcode still belong on the screen.
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Two files, same pantone color...Onscreen looks like two different colors?

Recently we have been having this issue at work, We have a line of packaging that uses the same pantone color (375 C). When we go to create a new document and use that same pantone the color onscreen looks more saturated then its predecessor. The only think I can think of is that I've upgrade to the pantone plus system but have since uninstalled and reinstalled the old color books. Both documents are in CMYK color space and both use the same ICC profile. Any thoughts? I know it wont appear this way when printed but we make a lot of PDFs for approvals and the colors come out more saturated in the PDF as well. See sample image below. Thanks for your help!

Try copying a sample of 375C from Document A into document B. If the Doc A swatch magically changes color to match the doc B swatch the you have a document with either a modified or old color that uses the same EXACT SAME name. This happens when someone modifies the CMYK values PANTONE 375 C does not change the name of the color. What Illustrator does is the AUTOMATICALLY changes the color mode of Doc A swatch from CMYK to Book color, when you paste an item having the same swatch name. You do not even get a about to merge color warning. For that reason if I ever tweak a color to get a better laser print, I change the name (eg: PANTONE 375C (Mod)
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I have a png that I've placed on a solid color background and it looks fine on the screen. When I print it, I see the faded ghost of it's bounding box.

I have a png that I've placed on a solid color background and it looks fine on the screen. When I print it, I see the faded ghost of it's bounding box. Basically, it losing at least part of the transparency in the file, but only when it goes to print. This happens whether I print it from illustrator, Indesign, or a pdf. If I open and print it from Photoshop it's fine. Is there some sort of setting that needs to be changed?
I'm posting a photo of the result.

Can you post the png so we can take a look at it?

Pantone Color Bridge vs Photoshop

Hello,
I'm curious why my Pantone Color Bridge is giving me different information than Photoshop CS4 for PMS 549. I am in the process of creating a style guide for a client of mine, and he requested the spot, process, RGB and HTML color codes.
Pantone Color Bridge says:
PMS 549C
RGB 94/156/174
CMYK 59/8/9/19
HTML 5E9CAE
Photoshop says:
PMS 549C
RGB 94/156/174
CMYK 65/26/26/1
HTML 5e9cae
The 65/26/26/1 looks a lot closer on the screen (I know, I know...) Does anyone know why the anomaly?

A quick bit of testing shows that your Photoshop setting for CMYK is USWebCoatedSWOPv2 - a pretty good middle-of-the-road profile.
The build from Color Bridge is using a very heavy black generation - probably a lowest-common-denominator approach Pantone uses to give the most consistent color in the face of inevitable press drift in most assuredly unknown press conditions. A crapshoot.
The actual color that comes off a press from a given CMYK build is very dependent upon paper and press conditions.
Tread lightly here when recommending a CMYK build to your client. Include a BIG caveat.

Pantone+ Color Bridge Coated vs Pantone+ Solid Coated

In Illustrator CC-2014, why is there a difference in a solid colour for example PMS 123 when one is used from the Pantone+ Color Bridge Coated and the other from the Pantone+ Solid Coated Library.

The reason for the discrepancy is my last results was that while the Working Colour Space was changed from SWOP to SheetFed, it was over looked that the assigned profile remained to that of SWOP. In the screen shots below Working Colour Space and Assigned Profile are set the same. Printed results closely reflect to what I see on screen with the SheetFed Profile producing a better match in my opinion. Cheers

Mixing Pantone Colors - Just like CMYK channels???

Hey Everyone,
I just signed up to the forum and had a look around. Hello everyone and I'm glad forums like this are around!
So, my question is hopefully one that is possible. I've looked elsewhere but can't find any difinitive answer or perhaps I haven't worded the question right but here it goes...
What I'd like to do [in photoshop] is treat 4 pantone colors just like CMYK channels. What I mean by that is that I would like to replace Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black with my own colors [pantone colors] and have them mix and act exactly like those channels. As in, when I open a full color image, and my pantone [or any color] channels or color profile is active, the full color image will react to those colors [with the blending of the colors].
Instead of 45% Cyan, 55% Magenta, 83% Yellow, and 2% Black in a given spot, it would be a mix of the 4 chosen colors [example: 45% pantone A, 55% Pantone B, 83% Pantone C, 2% Pantone D].
or to put it another way, if I were to color the background in, say, a blue, I would be able to use the "Info" panel to see how much of each pantone color was mixed to create that color. Obviously there would be a limit to the colors I could create based on the pantone colors I select.
I don't want to do anything printing wise with this technique. I am looking at it solely as an onscreen viewer or perhaps use it in some manner for screen printing.
Anybody have any ideas on how to achieve this?
Many thanks in advance.

Beyond setting up a multichannel document there is no magic. And it is still merely an approximation because some colors can neither be simulated on-screen nor actually printed that way. That ultimately is the whole point - PS can't simulate anything that is impossibole in the "real world" and expressed as a color profile. Anyway, I have the feeling that you have a wrong understanding what spot colors actually are/ are meant for. They simply won't respond like the basic CMYK channels because their actual inks don't behave that way. Your ink percentages will never represent anything equivalent to a mathematical mixing formula as when using RGB or CMYK, instead they are the inks color multiplied by the opacity. In case of an on-screen simulation/ proof they would not even necessarily include effects that happen due to spectral absorption when light travels through the inks or the inks mixing chemically/ physically at the pigment level. It really doesn't exactly make sense for what you have possibly in mind due to the aforementioned specifics and limitations of the simulation. One could even go so far as to craft everything in red on screen and then swap the color for green during the printing process, assuming only 100% opacities are used. That is to say spot colors are often more considered like masks that constrain the actual ink to certian areas and when you think of it that way, you may begin to understand how and why your grand plan may fall apart. Of course we don't know what your artwork looks like, so it may work, after all, but I realyl think you are heading in the wrong direction, dreaming up something that doesn't exist.
Mylenium

Mesh gradients using pantone colors

Hi,
I'm struggling to create gradients for screen printing purposes. The artwork will be printed on 12oz canvas using 3-4 pantone spot colors.
1) if I fill an object with a single Pantone color, create a mesh gradient from it using a variety of different opacity settings, say 100%, 50% and 25%, then play around with the mesh handles to produce a pleasant, mixed background, will a gradient of this type work for screen printing? I don't know if a gradient of this type will require halftones, as a linear or radial gradient would.
2) it's my understanding that when you prepare artwork for screen printing using spot colors, each color should be on its own layer. In an attempt to add highlights or shadows to an object, if I copy an object and paste it in front of itself, then apply a gradient using another Pantone spot color, say Pantone Process Black(100% to 0% opacity), does it matter what the blending mode is? Obviously you'll get different results based on the option you choose, but again, I'm concerned here only with screen printing. I can then place the gradient on the Black layer.
The problem is that I'm familiar with off-set printing, and apparently gradients have to be converted into halftones when screen printing, so I'm trying to figure out the best way of creating shadows and highlights.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
Mark

Mark,
Getting your head around a few age-old fundamental repro principles will clarify this stuff for you:
First and foremost: Think in terms of INKS, not "colors." Take off your designer hat and think like a mechanic. You're dealing with real-world substances: scoops of thick, gooey, solid-color ink that will be squished onto some object.
Line Art: Artwork designed to be reproducable using only areas of solid ink coverage. No graduations of any kind whatsoever. In other words, nothing but 100% "tint" (often called "solid") of the ink(s).
Tint Screens: Uniform coverage of a given ink, but at any percentage other than 100%.
Continuous-Tone Artwork (often called "contone"): Anything involving varying percentages of a given ink, be it a "grayscale" gradauation of a single ink or graduation involving two or more inks.
Halftone: A photomechanical process used to distribute small dots (or lines, or some other pattern) of ink so as to SIMULATE tints and/or gradations. That's the important concept: There are no "graduated inks." Any given location on the final print either has ink or it has no ink on it. The ink is always a solid color. So anything other than the actual color of the solid (100%) ink is a mere SIMULATION. That simulation requires that the ink be laid down as a series of tiny dots (or array of lines, etc.) so as to suggest things other than the 100% color of the actual, physical ink that is loaded into the press (or silkscreen).
Spot-color (opaque) versus process-color (translucent) is a SEPARATE ISSUE from line art (no tone screening) versus contone art (tone screening required). You are confusing those two separate and distinct issues.
Now put this in the context of screen printing:
All artwork involving tints or continuous tone requires halftoning. Compared to offset lithography, screen printing is very limited in its ability to handle halftoning. Many small local screen printing shops can't do halftoning at all. Typical medium-size screen printing shops (local T-shirt shops, etc.) can often do halftoning at a very course frequency (i.e.; large dots), often no smaller than 30~50 Lines Per Inch (LPI), and both color fidelity and sharpness suffer. Only larger and more sophisticated screen printing shops, running expensive, high-end automated equipment utilizing very fine screen mesh fabrics can reliably hold small halftone dots and consistently maintain color.
Bottom line: The way you prepare artwork for screen printing is highly dependent upon the kind of shop that will be doing the printing.
Screen printing is done on a wide variety of materials (substrates). Substrates are quite often not white. They are often dark. So spot color inks designed for screen printing are usually very opaque. That puts them in a whole other world from the almost-always translucent inks of offset lithography, AND from the real world that Illustrator's interface is capable of simulating. Illustrator does not provide any means by which to specify the real-world opacity of a Spot Color Swatch. So when you use blends, grads, and overprinting, Illustrator cannot do a good job of simulating what you will actually see in the final screen printed results.
Bottom Line: If you are building continuous-tone artwork involving blends, grads, tints, etc. (i.e.; anything requiring halftoning) and/or overprinting, you need some real-world experience to reasonably well anticipate how your halftoned artwork is going to look when printed. Best advice is to start simple. Design around your limitations, and those of the screen shop you will be using. Limit your designs to spot colors and entirely line art.
Now to your specific questions:
I'm struggling to create gradients for screen printing purposes.
Grads are going to require halftoning. Have you asked your screen printer what halftone frequency (LPI) he is able to reliably hold?
The artwork will be printed on 12oz canvas using 3-4 pantone spot colors.
Understand: Pantone is a company. The Pantone company publishes its own standardized formulae for its own branded inks, which are offset lithography inks, not silkscreen inks. In other words, it's just a commonly-used color reference. You would be better off refering to actual color swatches of the actual screen printing inks your screen printer will be using. Set up your Spot Color Swatches in Illustrator corresponding to the actual inks.
1) if I fill an object with a single Pantone color, create a mesh gradient from it...
Always state WHAT VERSION of Illustrator you are using. Grad mesh did not always support spot colors. Blends still don't.
...using a variety of different opacity settings, say 100%, 50% and 25%...
Don't confuse "opacity" with "tints." What Illustrator calls "opacity" and "transparency" usually involves rasterization and/or conversion to process color.
... then play around with the mesh handles to produce a pleasant, mixed background, will a gradient of this type work for screen printing?
It will work for screen printing IF:
The particular screen printing setup adequately supports halftoning.
The mesh is built appropriately for the color separation model (spot, process, or process-plus-spot) that will be used to print it. Again, you have to be aware of the number of INKS that you are designing for, and make sure your design does not require more than that when it is color-separated (think "ink-separated").
Current version Illustrator provides a color-separation preview feature, which can save you alot of grief if you use it. If using an earlier version, but have Acrobat Pro, save the file as a PDF, open it in Acrobat, and use its Separation Preview feature. If using an earlier version and do not have Acrobat Pro, "print" as color-separations to a PDF virtual printer like Adobe PDF. Then open the PDF in Reader and study the separate pages. (Screen print jobs are, in fact, often delivered as such a pre-separated PDF.)
I don't know if a gradient of this type will require halftones, as a linear or radial gradient would.
Based on the above, you should now know that. Yes, ANYTHING that involves graduated color requires (at least a simulation of) "graduated ink". Since "graduated ink" does not exist, halftoning (or some other kind of tone screening--there are others) is required in order to simulate it.
2) it's my understanding that when you prepare artwork for screen printing using spot colors, each color should be on its own layer.
No. Absolute nonsense. (Don't believe everything you find written by self-proclaimed "experts" or "tutors" on the web, no matter how fancy you think their demonstrations are.) If that were true, then how, (for just one example) could you possibly screen print a rectangle with a spot-to-spot grad fill? The path containing that grad resides on one Layer, doesn't it?
In an attempt to add highlights or shadows to an object, if I copy an object and paste it in front of itself, then apply a gradient using another Pantone spot color, say Pantone Process Black(100% to 0% opacity), does it matter what the blending mode is?
Yes, it matters. Blending Modes has to do with so-called "transparency" effects. Again, anytime you muck around with "transparency" you increase the liklihood of rasterization and/or conversion to process at output. You would be safer setting that copied, pasted, grad-filled object to overprint. Halftoning will still be required, at least on the separation corresponding to the ink(s) for that grad.
Obviously you'll get different results based on the option you choose... I'm concerned here only with screen printing.
If you are designing for SPOT COLOR screen printing (as opposed to process color), stay away from transparency effects unless/until you understand what you're doing.
I can then place the gradient on the Black layer.
Again, forget Layers corresponding to ink separations. A total misconception. Utterly unnecessary.
The problem is that I'm familiar with off-set printing, and apparently gradients have to be converted into halftones when screen printing, so I'm trying to figure out the best way of creating shadows and highlights.
The best way to create shading is HIGHLY dependent upon the technical capabilities of the specific screen printing shop. Always ask:
Can the shop support halftoning?
If so, what is the maximum halftone ruling (LPI) they can reliably hold on the particular target substrate? (If they don't understand this question, either stick to line art or find another screen shop.)
This does not mean that you cannot do shaded artwork without halftoning. (In fact, much of the most stunning screen-printed work is done entirely as line art.) Designer fully acquainted with the limitations of screen printing commonly employ artwork shading techniques to avoid the need for halftoning altogether. They use hatching or stippling or contour linework to build "shading" into the artwork, and all inks are printed as line art. In this regard, preparing artwork for screen printing is often more "creatively rewarding" because you first, understand the real-world limitations of the reproduction method and, second, devise clever and original artwork methods to work within those limitations.
But it's not something anyone can give you a step-by-step, one-size-fits-all-situations crash course in, in an online forum.
JET
JET

Showing customers Pantone colors vs. CMYK

I have some clients out of state that occasionally want Pantone colors run. We have CMYK digital presses and (except on rare cases) only run that. Is there a way in Illustrator to accurately show a client via PDF proof a Pantone square next to the same Pantone made out of CMYK and have them tell if it is a "close enough" match?
Unfortunately most of these clients don't have a CMYK vs. Pantone comparison book. I also realize they would have to have a calibrated screen to view whatever I sent them but is there anyway there would be an accurate way to do this?
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I agree. Their monitor vs. your monitor is completely subjective and would not be the most accurate way to proceed. This brings up a very good subject on color, color viewing, and color accuracy. Even if their monitor was setup exactly like yours, no two moniotrs, even the same brand, will display the same color(s). Add to that no two humans see color the same way. I know this sounds like splitting hairs, but it's true. Probably the best thing to do is print an actual press sheet with a series of swatches ( say, 5 at the most ) with slightly different percentages that are +/- 2-5% deviates of the original and send them that. Have them look at it on the actual paper they plan to use for the job. You'll be surprised which one they choose. In the end, they will be the ones to decide, but at least they have accurate information to go on.

Can I replace Pantone color books in InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop?

These new Pantone + books are a pain in ...well... you understand. In my years as a designer, I have just clicked on the correct book and color swatch, but now...
I am using Windows 7 and the CS6 suite of products. We have a company logo in which both main colors have dramatically changed with the new books. I won't go into all of the tricks we've tried to be able to place it in new documents without the color changing. I now think the only answer is to replace the color books as Adobe recommends. I do have two questions, though.
First, can I change the books in all of my products? Adobe only gives instructions for Illustrator and InDesign, but I regularly have to change vendor logos into our company colors in photoshop, and I am finding the color in Photoshop isn't the same when I bring that logo into Illustrator, even though they have the same number.
Second, what are the end results if I do change the books when I send a document to a printer? We usually do our printing in-house, so I am wondering when we buy PMS 2955 if it will be what I see in the old books or the new books. And what will an out-of-house printer be using?
My main two concerns are (1) seeing the correct color on screen and (2) printing the correct color. I don't really care how I get there, but I'd like it to be a permanent fix so I don't have to go in and manipulate swatches every time I add a logo to an item.
Thanks for any help!
BTW - haven't been to this new forum format and don't know if I am posting this in the right place. If not, please help me find the correct location. Thanks!

HI this is good. But i have already seen this.
Its very informative but somehow i felt it lacks the punch and fun factor in a video. I need something which captivates and entrances the audience, not a speech kind of a thing.
Anything else??

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how do i fix my ipod's screen it looks lik black on white and i can barely c the screen.?!

Go to Settings>General>Accessibility and turn of either Invert Colors (iOS 6) or or White on Black (earlier iOSs).

Can I easily match Pantone colors using Illustrator?

Hi all,
I run a small invitation supply company.
Our primary design tool up until now has been Photoshop Elements.
We recently purchased a $6000 printer from Xerox which is the 'gold standard' for graphic arts and Pantone approved.
We also have a pantone color bridge. When I print a color using the hex code, the color looks NOTHING like the pantone swatch.
I contacted Xerox and they told me that because Elements has a very low degree of color management that we will never be able to easily color match our pantone swatches and that they aren't surprised the color is way off.
I suppose I naively figured that spending $6000 on a printer would get us easy and flawless color matching. Xerox says- not so.
They suggested investing in Illustrator and they are convinced that it will be much more likely to get us to the point that we want. Ultimately I want to be able to pick a color from the pantone deck, enter the code, and feel confident that the print will come out 100% the corresponding color.
Am I living a pipe dream?
I would like some feedback before proceeding.
On top of the financial investment, obviously there is a lot of time that my partner and I will have to spend learning Illustrator.
Any input would be great.
Thanks,
Aaron

Am I living a pipe dream?
Yes.
More precisely, you are just failing to understand the fundamental difference between spot color and process color.
I want to be able to pick a color from the pantone deck, enter the code, and feel confident that the print will come out 100% the corresponding color.
Not gonna happen, even if you do all the tedious color management setup you can.
The above assumes you are, in fact, talking about matching Pantone spot colors. (Pantone does not just publish spot color swatches, but that is the usual sense in which beginners refer to Pantone.)
A spot color is, by definition, an actual, physical, single ink which is loaded into a press. The only way to achieve your 100% pipedream is to load that actual, physical, single ink into your $6000 printer.
But that's how a printing press works, not how your $6000 printer works. It works by printing four "primary colors" of inks and then arranging tiny dots of them in proximity to each other in order to "trick" the eye into seeing them as a mixture of colors on the page in proportions which try to approximate the spot color as best it can.
But physical inks are simply not accurate enough to actually do that. There are many, many spot colors which simply cannot be replicated by mixing arrays of primary colors of inks. That's what all this "gamut" talk is about. That's one reason why spot color inks exist.
The Pantone spot color matching system is a means by which to consistently communicate proportional mixtures of actual, real, physical inks of known specific colors. All anyone (including Pantone) can do with the CMYK inks (or dyes) in a desktop printer is try to recommend percentages of those CMYK inks to best approximate a match to an actual, physical spot color ink.
It gets worse. Your monitor cannot actually match a spot color ink swatch, either. Your monitor glows. Ink doesn't. Even on tediously calibrated systems, there is more to perceived "color" than just numerical values of CMYK or RGB or HSL or Lab. There is chroma. There is reflectance. There is opacity. There is grain.
Then there's the whole matter of the incredibly context-sensitive adaptabability of human vision.
So if you are selling the output of your $6000 printer as the final product, you should not use Pantone spot color swatches as any kind of contract color specification, because your printer cannot actually print spot color inks. If you're doing color-critical work that the customer will refuse when specified colors don't match, you and your customer must specify colors which your device can actually produce.
JET

Pantone color changes modes from Illustrator to InDesign

I have a logo designed in Illustrator that uses Pantone color 5275 C. When I place it in InDesign, the color is dull and dark. In my Color palette, it says the spot color is based on the LAB mode instead of CMYK. I've never seen that happen before in earlier InDesign versions. How do I get the color mode to match what it is in Illustrator?

In Illustrator you get the Pantone libraries via Window>Swatch Libraries>Color Books>Pantone + Solid Coated. When you have the library open a selected swatch will show in the Color panel :
InDesign is different. You get a Pantone color via Swatches>New Color Swatch>Pantone + Solid Coated>choose a desired color swatch

PDF Documents look dull in "Preview"... Help please!

Hey,
I created some pdf format files in photoshop, and they look clear when you view them in programs like colorsync utility etc... So I merged the multiple pages I created that were pdf files with a program that merges them into different pages. So when I view them, they look dull for some reason, and the color looks faded, but when I view it in colorsync, it looks vibrant and crisp. How can I make the pdf view correct in "preview".
Thanks!

Hi ctarampi
If you have multiple (crispy ) PDFs that you would like to merge, open them all in Preview.app.
Open the side bar. Mark multiple pages. Copy them.
Switch to the PDF you'd like to add the pages to. Insert them (cmd-v). With single pages you can also use drag and drop.
don't forget to save the changed PDF in the end.
I'm not sure if this fixes your problem. If not, maybe you could post some of the pdfs in question on the web, so I could look at the problem. I'd be interested.
--greg

My Pantone colors on screen suddenly look dull

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