Pantone PMS colors on a website

I'm designing a website for a client who has provided his company colours as Purple PMS 2607, and Grey PMS 428. I don't know much about pantone colours or really use them at all and so I'm looking up examples of the first colour on various websites and the colour seems to vary a bit from site to site. And in xara I see there are different colours named 2607 but with pc, ec, u, m after them and none of them really match the online examples. I can go with a colour I feel is close but I'm wondering if there's a way to match the colour for use on a website?

I'm not at all sure if this is a pantone colour question, or a web design question, but my instinct is the latter, so I'm moving it to web chat

Comparison between Screen colors and Print colors is a bit like comparing Apples and Oranges. Apples and Orances both grow on trees and are fruits, but there are more differences than similarities.

Red, Green, and Blue (RGB) (screen colors) have a wider range (gamut) than Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK) (Printer colors). Pantone colors are specially created inks for Printing that can achieve a color not obtainable by adding various amounts of CMYK inks together.

For your web pages use an RGB color that you feel is close, that is why the different pages you have viewed look different. The person or persons making those pages had their own feeling of what was close. ;)

OK will do, thanks for the info Soquili.

The 2607.
sRGB: 129 102 152
Hex: 816698

The 428.
sRGB: 168 177 177
Hex: A8B1B1

That is from the Pantone Bridge guide.

Take care, Mike

Most of the ones I've tried for 2607 are noticebly darker than your hex 816698. I guess I just use these pantone codes as a starting point and adjust to suit. At least I know now it's not really possible to get an exact match from pantone colour to rgb or hex colour, so technically my choice can't be wrong!

As Bill points out, Pantone colors are color specifications for printed color.

But Mike seems to have done the hard work and found the closest matches.

Heck, it ain't hard if one has Pantone's stuff. These days I simply have Pantone's Color Manager software. A click here, a click there and the values are present.

Take care, Mike

Thanks guys. I was going to use the results from this page http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/colorfinder.aspx before you posted Mike but the colours it's spitting out for 2607 are darker shades than the one you posted. I guess they are all close enough to give a good idea but it's a bit confusing which one of all these different shades to use a starting point. I'm happy enough to proceed but it's all still a bit confusing with so many variations.

Gary and Mike, for the benefit of those like me that don't often use Pantone colors. When do we know which reference is correct?

Please see attached image.

It helps to have a printed sample in order to match visually as well as possible. For instance, among the various color swatches, it matters whether one is matching coated versus uncoated stock. This is an unknown to me at the moment.

The Pantone inks are the same. So 2607 is 2607 no matter whether one is printing to coated or uncoated stock. But the guides show actual ink sample on various types of stock (coated versus uncoated). As such, the colors vary visually as uncoated stock absorbs more ink and tends to be both duller and darker than the same ink on coated stock, which has a much lower absorption rate and so colors are typically lighter and brighter. Further muddying the waters *visually* can be the matte papers, etc. But in all cases are the same inks.

Pantone colors are not meant to be represented back lit like on a monitor. Pantone does supply the color values, but like other color models, once back lit can appear different. Pantone is really only meant to be used on paper.

To get back to the question, Bill, for the purpose of this thread of matching color of a web site widget to Pantone, one needs to really know whether the stock is coated or uncoated that one is trying to match in order to get close enough. The various letters following the colors U, C, PC, etc., are an attempt to match the way ink is represented on types of paper.

Take care, Mike
off to lunch...

Thanks Mike. Viewing the Pantone palettes provided with Designer Pro 2607 is shown as a blue but the myPantone Palettes application shows it as a dark violet. This is where I become very confused, can I use the palettes within Designer Pro or should I forget them and only use the Pantone application?

EDIT: Found that when I go to Simulate Printer Colors what looked Blue is actually the same violet as seen in the Pantone Application. :o

When working with CMYK and/or Pantone it helps to use Simulate Print Colors. :)

As someone who has worked in print for the last 20 years I would never try to match a 'print' colour such as as pantone colour with a colour on a website, you may get it perfect on your monitor but someone viewing the site on a diiferent monitor will see a slightly different colour, you client may view your site design on your monitor and like it and then go back view it on their monitor and phone you back saying the colour is different. Simply explain this to the client.

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EDIT: Found that when I go to Simulate Printer Colors what looked Blue is actually the same violet as seen in the Pantone Application.

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Ah that's what was confusing me too, why a few of them looked so blue. I think if this situation arises again I will use the web tools and charts to match the colours in the future because I'll probably forget about that option and if you leave it on it changes all colours on the page.

I could ask for colours in rgb or hex values but I think once I get close enough to the colour it's fine. Most people will hopefully know there is a slight visual difference from screen to screen so I suppose they can't really expect an exact match. Even if he supplied a digital photo with these colours I guess there would still be that margin of difference. I will expain this if he asks (now that I'm a bit clearer on the subject!), but I'm doubting he will if I get it close enough. Thanks for all the advice everyone!

Good job I didn't use any of those blue colours, would have looked a right idiot! :D

Because all web browsers work only with RGB it would be a good idea to find an RGB value that looks very close to the Pantone color. Do this with Screen Colors selected in your Xara app. ;)

Why not use some of the online converters they have a much larger database to work from. I use this one on the add occasion: http://goffgrafix.com/pantone-rgb-100.php

Thanks for the link Peter. I have it bookmarked now. :)

When I have to match a client's color scheme I try and get something from them on paper like a letter head with a logo or maybe a business card. Basically something that has the color or colors they want used and that is flat as well( gllossy makes it harder ). I then scan it. You can then come up with an RGB value by opening the scanned item in a photo program( or even WD )and use the color tool( little eye dropper thing ). While not perfect it gets me as close as any other way I have tried unless I am actually given RGB values.

You can only do so much.