color question

[MER]

1st off I just wanted to say hello to all as this is my first post. I've frequented the forum regularly and have learned a lot from many. I am not a graphics designer by trade (I am a product designer for a medical device company) so this will hopefully be an easy answer! I'm doing some package redesign in XX-pro and am ready to have samples printed. My problem is with getting the correct colors. When I choose the Pantone color from the color gallery and export to pdf/x and print it (office laser printer) it doesn't come close to the color on the professionally printed packaging I'm redesigning. However, when I manually edit the color and input the CMYK values for the specific Pantone color (provided from the Pantone process guide) and export/print the same way, I get a much closer match to the pro-printed packaging. Why is this? Even in the Xara file the blue is quite noticeably different. I've attached a demo in .xar and it's pdf/x export.

Thanks!
Mark

[gwpriester]

Hi Mark and welcome to the Xtreme Conference.

Pantone colors, unless they are CMYK colors, are meant to be printed as separate inks.

Xara displays colors in RGB color space which is more saturated and vibrant than printed color. If you want a closer idea of what your printed colors will look like, go to Window > Show Printer Colors > Simulate Print Colors.

This will give you a more realistic color space. And Pantone solid spot colors will look more like the colors in the Pantone swatch books.

Gary

[MER]

Thanks for the reply. Man, this color stuff is making my head spin! I'm still trying to understand so please bear with me. I'm going to provide our printer a PDF/X file of my artwork. The artwork I'm doing is a revision. The previous version used Pantone 654 (solid color) and I believe it was a 2 color process also including some black. I've added a feature (Pantone 485 PC) using a rounded bevel which has made this job a 4 color process. I assume I need to spec a 4/C Process color for the blue for which I've selected Pantone 654 PC.

I understand what I see on my screen vs. print are and will be different. What confuses me is why a selected Pantone color looks/prints differently from a color that has the Pantone's CMYK values entered(values given by the Pantone process guide). To me they should be the same on screen or print.

At the end of the day, I need to have the blue on my revised artwork, when professionally printed, match as best as possible the printed blue of our previous version. As I mentioned prior, the test print I make from our office laser printer matches our previous revision (side by side comparison with the pro-print) the best when I manually enter the CMYK values. Am I to understand that in Xara I should still select the specific Pantone color and the result from our printer should match well even though the test print I made doesn't? If so, I assume this has to do with a difference in color handling by my laser printer?

Mark

[Jon G]

Don't confure process colours (CMYK inks) and spot colours (Pantone defined inks).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_color

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_color

Your laser printer does not have either, so the colour match is pure coincidence.

CMYK values and the hue of a pantone colour do not always match, and in any case they are both print colours, not displaying 100% accurately on your screen. You should match the colours from a printed pantone chart, and when using that spot colour on the correct paper/carton you should get the same output from the print.

If your monitor is not designed for graphic work and calibrated frequently, you will not have reliable reference about the colours on screen.

good luck, colour is a science.

.jon

[MER]

Good info. Thanks guys!

Mark