Pantone color issues while PDFing

The company I work for designs/publishes a magazine and have just been upgraded from CS2 to CS4. Since then, I've started having some problems when I PDF or print an ad. I'll receive an ad as a PDF and a component of their ad will be a Pantone color (typically logo). When I PDF the magazine page, the logo will change to another color. It's as if it doesn't recognize the color as CMYK. This also happens sometimes when I print. Any suggestions?

Some further clarification may be in order.
Spot colors ar not CMYK, though they might have a fairly close approximation. Most magazines don't offer spot color support, so everything must either be designed in CMYK, or converted. There are MANY spot colors that don't have good CMYK equivalents, and for those you will see a color shift after the conversion. Checking the "use Lab values" box will probably get you the closest possible match in a properly color managed workflow.

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Color issues while printing photos

I recently was able to successfully set up my iBook G4 wirelessly to my Windows-based Dell PC printer network (HP all-in-one printer). I've been printing documents and color banners etc. and everything looks great
I have also added my HP Photosmart 7660 to my G4 wireless printer list. However, when I go to print photos on glossy 4X6 paper, the colors are bright, but there is a red-ish filter over everything.
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Thanks!

Howdy, Jesse,
Just a heads up - you might wanna check to see what driver you are using. Reason I say that is most host based printers are finnicky when it comes to networking (especially wireless) and typically they want to add to your printer list using Bonjour/Rendezvous or Appletalk. If you have added the printer as an IP printer, you may have it setup using a driver that is not designed for your printer (this may happen via Bonjour under some circumstances too). To check to see what driver your printer is using, go to the hard drive, then Applications>Utilities>Printer Setup Utility. Highlight your printer name then click Show Info and this info window should tell you the driver it is using. Also, you might want to check the printer manufacturer's website for a driver update - 10.4 is relatively new and the driver software you are using may be out of date. Or, you may want to setup the printer USB to yer Mac to rule out the network setup altogether. If everything looks on the up and up as far as the driver is concerned, you might wanna try a little bit of trial and error with varying the print settings. In the Print dialog box in iPhoto, go to Advanced Options, then click Copies & Pages and try to find the Quality and/or Color settings for your printer. Try varying color settings and also make sure that the proper media type you are using has been selected. Eventhough the printer is the same, remember that you are using different applications on completely different operating systems and this can definitely have an affect on the way color is interpreted.
Hope this sheds some light on the situation. Let me know how you make out.

Minor color issues while watching videos on my iPod

Hey, I have a minor issue, but still an annoying one. When I watch movies on my iPod, I have to hold the iPod tipped towards me at about a 15 to 20 degree angle in order for the colors to be right. If I hold it at a comfortable angle to my eyes, the dark colors turn kind of funky, which makes dark scenes difficult to see sometimes.
Resetting the brightness doesn't seem to help. Are there any other settings somewhere that could help rectify this problem?

plug in your headphones. LOl jk, maybe your videos got corrupt because of a error. A few videos on my ipod got corrupt because of videora, and i still dont know why. Like sound would trail of drastically.

Transparency issues with INDCS3 and Pantone color

Running Windows XP, Serv Pk 2, Creative Suite CS3, All updates.
Heres the deal: We are having problems with PDFs printing and Ripping when using transparencies and drop shadows.
Issue 1: INDD CS3 file with transparent PDF placed as image. Separate frame filled with paper, stroke and drop shadow placed under trans PDF file. Filled frame areas of percentage tint using a PANTONE color used on same page. File re-PDFed (compat to v6) and file printed correctly to XEROX 7760 and HP color. PDF views correctly. Recommended ordering policy applied to all layers as to keep drop shadow below text. PROBLEM: User running Acro 7 to printing to same color printers, receives copy with color tint areas missing.
Issue 2: INDD CS3 file with solid Pantone color on background. Several text frames layered above. Under text frame a solid box with SOLID Drop shadow. PDFed using Acro 8. PROBLEM: User's RIP and DIGITAL presses do not recognize the drop shadow? White knockout box appears in this area.
It seems that CS3 is handling transparency issues differently and/or that Acro 8 (compat to v6) is doing something different. The Acro 8 users have no problem printing or PDFing.
Could this also be the "known issue" of transparencies and PANTONE colors? We are testing out converting all the colors to CMYK.
Please respond at your earliest.
KEN PANTHEN, Albany, NY

Ken,
If your final output is to the Xerox, which can't print Spot colors without converting them to CMYK, you should use process colors instead.
Also, read the articles from InDesign Secrets:
http://indesignsecrets.com/eliminating-the-white-box-effect.php
http://indesignsecrets.com/eliminating-ydb-yucky-discolored-box-syndrome.php
Peter

Illustrator CS4, new Pantone color books, color channel issue

Since I installed the new Pantone color books, I've been running in a major issue which will affect our whole production line.
If an Illustrator CS4 file contains a Photoshop CS4 image which is using an "old" Pantone color in a color channel, it cannot be opened and I get an error message "File is unreadable". If I replace the "old" Pantone colour with its new equivalent in the color channel in Photoshop, the file can be opened normally.
In our work environment, this means going through all our images to check which one is using a color channel. A painful and time wasting procedure. Furthermore, if one of our suppliers doesn't have the new color books, they won't be able to open any of the files, both Photoshop and Illustrator, so they have no way to revert back to the old Pantone.
Is there another way to fix this?
Thank you

More on the Pantone PLUS saga, hoping to get some input from the users of this forum. I find their silence deafening, to say the least. This is a serious issue, that will cost our agency hours and hours of work if it isn't addressed. And we've already wasted hours of troubleshooting and discussions on how we could resolve it.
We're actually testing a workaround: using both the old and the new libraries in Illustrator. After consulting our suppliers, we've learned that this is what they also do. For them, it's a one shot to get the file to print. For us, it means cheating with files that will get edited again in the future. And the Pantone installer removes the old Pantone books from the Adobe folders for a reason which is mentioned on the download page:
The reason that the PANTONE Color Libraries that had been built into Illustrator need to be removed and replaced with the PANTONE PLUS Color Libraries is that, in Illustrator, a PANTONE Color can only have one data point with which it is associated. In the short term, in order to benefit from the new colors and data associated in PLUS, the PANTONE Libraries that are installed with Adobe Illustrator are removed and replaced with the new PLUS Libraries.
http://www.pantone.com/pages/Pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=20721&ca=1
I worry this may lead to another bunch of issue, knowing how easily AI files get corrupted. What I need to know is:
What is the exact meaning of the Pantone warning about the "one data point per color?
What are the long term implications of using both Pantone libraries in an Adobe file? Or in the Adobe app?

Illustrator cc crashes on start up win 8 - pantone color manager issues?

I was at a clients office yesterday, installed Pantone Color manager on my laptop (I have Adobe Illustrator CC) and on their desktop (They have latest copy of Illustrator, but not cc, it's disc). And imported some pantone swatches into illustrator on both machines.
Since I shut down my laptop on leaving their office and restarted, Illustrator freezes on start up. Their machine is ok.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled illustrator. I checked that it wasn't win updates that is causing this and ran an update. I'm stuck now, still no solution, I'm travelling abroad and I need illustrator! Could anyone walk me through any possible solutions?

I selected the swatch card that I needed using the Pantone Colour Services manager application - I selected a Pantone Textiles colour card - same colour ref guide as my paper swatch book - because it doesn't come as standard with the software, you then choose which Adobe application you want to export it to following the instructions here http://pantone.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1803
In ordder to do this, I installed Pantone Color Services manager from the pantone website - I note that this software seemed to be bundled with X-Rite Services Device manager which installed at the same time. Despite removing this and reinstalling and also trying to use Windows system restore (which didn't work and threw up an error message saying it could not restore) the application still does not launch. Do I need to go into the registry and alter anything?

CS5.5 Can't see Pantone Color Bridge libraries!

Hello there!
I am using Creative Suite CS5.5 Trial version for now on Windows 7 platform. For some reason I don't see Pantone Color Bridge libraries, only the old ones, but none of the Plus Series. I was able to see these colors on version 5, but not here. Can't see them on Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign. I wonder if CS5.5 supports these colors. I even downloaded a plugin from Pantone and Pantone Color Manager, but with no luck. I contacted Pantone, but still waiting for a response. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!
Aldo

Please post in the InDesign forum. This forum is for suite specific issues only.
Bob

Illustrator CS6 / CC and previous Pantone color books

Hi all, I've understood that Illustrator CS6 / CC has the new Pantone+ color books, those color books doesn't have CMYK values so the default of rIllustrator CS6 / CC is to use the Lab values when I add a Pantone swatches to my document. One of my customers, that is a print industry, need to have the old Pantone with CMYK values to maintain the same color rendition on old and continuative jobs. Adobe says that I can load the old Pantone color books from CS5 and change the swatches option so that Illustrator use the CMYK values: http://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/kb/pantone-plus.html The problem is that this doesn't work for me and for my customer, even if I change the swatches option Illustrator continue to load only the Lab values from the older CS5 Pantone color books... anyone of you has a solution?

I am running into the same issue. Both links suggested did not work for me. In a document I created in CS4 (the old document) and opened in CC there is a square with the color Pantone 519U in which it converts to C:67% M:100% Y:30% K:10%. These are the numbers to be expected. If I copy the square that is 519U in the old document and paste it in the same old document the color remains the same.
I create a new document in CC (the new document). From the old document I copy the Pantone 519U square and paste it in the new document. The resulting square in the new document is a washed out purple. The new document square converts to C:57.27% M:68.83% Y:35.06% K:13.06%.
Again I followed Workaround 1 in the link. I obtained the old Pantone Libraries from my CS4 machine so it is not a library issue. I have also created a new Document Profile where I set the Spot Color to be "Use CMYK values from the manufacturer's process books". I am seeing the same problem before and after the workaround.

Is there a way to populate an InDesign document with Pantone colors from a .csv document?

I have a CSV document that inputs copy information into various labels we have set up in InDesign, but we also have Pantone colors that we put into this document. Currently, it just imports the color number and we manually change the color ourselves, but is there a way to automatically populate the colors into the document?

Hi,
Here is some code you may want to play with
Array.prototype.contains = function ( object )
var i = 0, n = this.length;
for ( i = 0 ; i < n ; i++ )
if ( this[i] === object )
return true;
return false;
function createLabels() {
var filterFunction = function(file)
return /\.csv$/.test ( file.name );
var f = File.openDialog("Please select CSV Files…", filterFunction);
var sep = "\t";
var n = 0;
var headers = [];
var rows = [], row = [];
var doc, m, pw,pb,ph, np, tf, tfo;
var p;
if ( !f) { return; }
f.open("r");
headers = f.readln().split(sep);
while ( !f.eof ){
row = f.readln().split(sep);
row.length>1 && rows [ rows.length ] = {contents:row[0], colorName:row[1]};
n = rows.length;
if ( !n ) {
alert("No data");
return;
doc = app.documents.add();
doc.documentPreferences.facingPages = false;
m = doc.pages[0].marginPreferences;
pb = doc.pages[0].bounds;
while (n--) {
row = rows[n];
np = doc.pages.add();
doc.importAdobeSwatchbookSpotColor ( row.colorName );
tfo = {
geometricBounds:[pb[0]+m.top, pb[1]+m.right, pb[2]-m.bottom, pb[3]-m.left],
contents:row.contents,
fillColor:doc.colors.itemByName ( row.colorName ),
tf = np.textFrames.add(tfo);
doc.pages[0].remove();
createLabels();
Sorry for not using the highlighting code option but it wasn't displaying the whole stuff :\
Loic
http://www.ozalto.com

Illustrator CS6 color issues when saving JPG

I have recently gotten rid of the Pantone+ color books and replaced them with the old color books, using the "Workaround 1: Replace Pantone Plus with older Pantone color books" help from Adobe. Followed all of the instrauctions and had no issues until two weeks ago. Then suddenly when saving PDFs I had to start changing the output Color Conversion to ' convert to destination'. I never had to take this extra step before. Now if I do not do this it saves some colors as black. Whatever, I got over that and take the extra step.
TODAY, now I can't even save JPGs without color issues. Some JPGs save correctly. Then I use the same color in a different file, and it saves completely different. Same color profiles, swatch options, blah blah blah.
Someone help me. I am extremely fed up with these issues. Like everyone else, this is my job and now it is making a huge impact on my work...

What program are you using to view the PDFs?

Color picker picks wrong Pantone color in color library

I have a Pantone swatch and a Pantone color book that contain the same colors. With the color library open in the color picker, I select a color from the swatch using the dropper and most times it gives me the correct color.
However, some times it doesn't.
I have verified that the 8 bit RGB values of the colors are identical in the color book and swatch (as shown in the info panel), but still it gives me a different color. Both files are in RGB color, with the swatch stored in 16bit and the color book in 8 bit (file format limitations).
What causes the wrong color to be selected? How does photoshop calculate the "distance" between the colors to determine which is closest? I would expect that it should select the color that has identical RGB values, even though the one it does select is relatively close in RGB space.

The color picker always fails on the same colors. My monitor profile is sRGB. Every color profile setting I know of is on sRGB and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
In the image below I've tried to show what is happening. In the top version, the incorrectly chosen color (wrong red value) is selected in the color library, while the info panel shows the RGB value of the swatch color that the mouse is over. In the bottom version, the correct color was manually selected to show that it does indeed exist in the color book. In this case the RGB value in the info panel (from the swatch) and the RGB is the color library are the same.

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)
Though I feel one of Wade's 2 suggestions may be right, this also can cause color difference.

What exactly are Pantone colors?

Hello: Level: New Newbie OS: Win 7 64bit
I came across something today while familiarizing myself with Illustrator and Photoshop and I have tried to Google but I'm not so good with Keywords.
I would like to know exactly what Pantone colors are and if they are for web use or are they for projects that are intended for printing only.
Thank you for your time
Kara

You are welcome, Kara, apologizing for the slightly woolly way of explaining (not only as substitutes referring to the CMYK values amidst three disturbingly similar references to Pantone spot colours).
I'll start a new thread though ... hope to see you there
I am looking forward to it, but since it is midnight in half an hour over here I shall have to attend to other duties just about as soon.

Pantone Color Changes

I have a series of Illustrator documents created over 2 - 3 years. They are artwork for labels of multiple sizes of the same product. It is important that the colour is consistent. In the period concerned I will have used CS5, CS5.5 and CS6.
I have just added to the range and the client came back to me saying that the "blue has changed”. Sure enough it has. When I compare, Pantone 652 on one it is darker than Pantone 652 on a newer one. Apparently it prints differently as well. When I copy and paste blue items from one document to another (either way) they change colour. In other words PMS 652 is not consistent from one document to another.
When I check the CMYK numbers on the two documents they are very different: 50/25/0/10 and 47/24/7/0.
I have read that Pantone wished to 'improve' some things, and I know I can change the colour book in CS6, or just work some projects in older Illustrator versions. But they all seem to me to be cumbersome work arounds. Surely Pantone 652 should always be Pantone 652.
What am I missing?

Dear Monika:
I wanted to clarify part of the issue here.
PANTONE 652 is a color that was added to the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM back in 1991, one of a palette of 'light, dirty shades' that was introduced at that time. As a solid ink, the color and formulation have not changed at all since the color was introduced.
What has changed over the years are the paper stock on which the colors are printed, as well as the CMYK simulation data contained first in the PANTONE solid to process guide, and later in PANTONE Color Bridge.
The current version of PANTONE COLOR BRIDGE, launched in May 2010 as part of the PANTONE PLUS SERIES, was re-engineered with a globally-compatible, G7-based workflow to produce a single version applicable worldwide, in replacement of the previous North American and European versions with separate workflow and CMYK values. This in part explains the change in CMYK data. However, in most cases, confusion about CMYK values occurs because users typically access the colors from the PANTONE solid color libraries, and 'convert' to CMYK which provides conversion data which vary from the explicit data contained within the PANTONE COLOR BRIDGE libraries. It should be noted that the PANTONE PLUS SERIES products include a license for PANTONE Color Manager, allowing users to update the digital PANTONE libraries within their Adobe applications with libraries consistent with the PANTONE PLUS SERIES products.
Best regards,
John Stanzione
Manager - Technical Support
Pantone, LLC

Mesh tool and pantone colors.

Hello,
I'm trying to make a logo using the mesh tool. I have to use pantone colors, since it will be used on a bussinesscard.
Now, I'm experiencing the following problem: I select a darker color on the bottom part of the object, and the gradient is going from dark, to light, to normal.
Why is this happening? Is it because I'm using pantones? it just looks icky.
Thank you!
Image:
[IMG]http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b338/Aetza/drop.png[/IMG]
I clicked three times, so I have three horizontal and three vertical lines. The light part is happening between two lines.

function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
Also, I have no knowledge of printstuff.
And because of that, others here are trying to help you avoid getting yourself into trouble. Before anyone actually starts charging money for doing design or prep work for commercial print, they really should consider it their responsibilty to (what a concept!) actually be at least familiar with the printing process. Otherwise, if you present yourself as a for-print designer, you really are defrauding the customer.
Take a course at the local tech school; work part time in a press room for peanuts, just to learn. At the very least, get someone to give you a functional tour of a press room whenever you can.
It's not rocket science; it's mostly just simple mehanics. But it is also not just a simple matter of re-purposing your RGB web work. (In fact, that's backward; usually you should design for print first and then repurpose for web.)
As soon as you start talking about real ink-on-paper, you're talking about real labor and materials and real time on some really expensive equipment. Commercial offset printing is very competitive. Printing houses by necessity quote jobs according to the assumtion that jobs incomming from external preparers are built right, i.e.; that the external designer knows what he's doing. You can't expect a printing house to eat the costs involved in fixing your file-preparation mistakes.
In short, the printing world is chock-full of very bad relationships between angry designers who think they know what they're doing (often these days just because they've been doing some design work for the web) and printing houses who know they don't. Trust me: You don't need that stigma. A print designer should consider it a matter of necessity to develop very strong relationships with printing houses, based on mutual professional respect. Without that, you really won't be competitive, no matter how artfully talented you consider yourself.
function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
But it really is a pantone
There is no such thing as "a pantone". Pantone is a brand; it's a company. The various Pantone libraries are just sets of standardized spot color or process color specs published by Pantone, and used to communicate colors to printing houses. Pantone is not the only set of spot colors, but it is the most commonly-recognized in offset lithography printing; it predates graphics computers by decades.
When designing a file intended for color-separation (i.e.; mass printing), your concern is whether it will be printed in spot color or process color (or, in some cases, a combination of both). In order for your file to color-separate correctly, you have to build it correctly.
And color separation is not the only issue; there are other issues that affect whether the job prints correctly, such as trapping and total ink density. For example, spot color is by its nature less forgiving when you neglect the matter of trapping.
All printing is a matter of production economy. In the matter of process vs. spot color, several practical factors come into play, including the paper type, the specific press which will run the job, and even the nature of the artwork itself (ex: line-art vs. continuous-tone, tightness of the color registration, and others).
When designing for color-separated print, don't think in terms of "colors"; think in terms of real-world, physical inks. Basically, Your job is to deliver to the printing house a file which contains one image per ink--especially with spot color (i.e.; what far too many people think of as synonomous with "Pantone"). Don't think of a spot color as a "color"; think of it as an ink.
Offset presses have a separate ink well for each ink that will be printed. Each ink hits the paper at a different time as the sheet passes through the press. At the typical small-to-medium printing house, bread & butter jobs like business cards are usually run on smallish presses. Those are seldom more than 4-color presses, and are often 2-color presses. If, in your artwork, the number of separation colors exceeds then number of ink wells on the specific press, the job cannot be printed in one pass; the paper has to be re-run to apply the full number of inks and that entails another press set-up operation--which you pay for.
So if (as it sounds) you take the admonition to "use Pantone colors" to simply mean 'make sure all the colors you use are selected from the Pantone Swatch Library', you are already in trouble. Each time you add a color from a spot color library to your file, you are necessitating another ink well on the press.
If you've read and seriously considered the above, you'll understand that, by and large, it is rarely practical (cost efficient) to design a piece containing more than three spot colors. As soon as you need more than three colors, you should be considering 4-color (CMYK) process.
(Higher-end printing is frequently done involving more than four inks; it is not uncommon for sheetfed work to be process-plus-1 or process-plus-2 spot inks. Multi-pass jobs can involve foils, metallic inks, and varnishes. But such "glitzy" printing is knowingly extravagant and is still carefully prepared for to maximize economy within the requirements. Although it certainly can be, such extravagance is not usually the kind of thing used for the typical business card project.)
JET

Pantone color issues while PDFing

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