Pantone, CMYK, RGB and Hex differences in Xara Designer Pro X

[jaydear]

A printing issue not mentioned so far is the nature of the surface to be printed, e.g. black anodised aluminum, stainless steel, 'white' powder-coat, black powder-coat, paper, canvas, perspex, etc. and the desired printed finish, e.g. matte, gloss, satin, etc. I used to design a lot of artwork for screen-printing of electronic equipment panels in CorelDRAW which has extensive support for Pantone colours. There are many variables and interactions, so it is very hard to get the desired result on-screen and it boils down to obtaining actual samples. No display that emits light can possibly show the same colours as an article reflecting light and no display can emulate metallic sheen or translucence. The only way to get the desired result is through test prints on the actual medium by the business that will be doing the job/s. It's costly, but the result is good.

[behzad]

Unless your working to produce design for large firms that can dish out money to get their pantone matched across multiple items, your better off just relaxing about color matching to the T and get the job done in CMYK which is cheaper for your clients.