Pantone Goes for 2,000 new colours

 

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Posted on 10 Sep 2007 at 14:18

Pantone has unveiled the first completely new version of its industry-standard specification and matching system for print colours since it was first introduced in 1945.

Pantone Goe includes 2,058 new colours and in addition to the traditional swatches and adhesive colour "chips" provides cross-platform software tools for sampling, blending and matching colours. The main Pantone GoeGuide shows seven colours per page, each identified by a unique number along with its ink mixing formula and RGB values. To avoid confusion, the Pantone Goe System uses a different naming system than the previous Pantone Matching System; the new naming convention uses a three-part numbering system with a substrate identifier of "C" that refers to coated stock.

The new colours are arranged in chromatic order designed to provide precise, cross-media colour selection and specification. But despite the expanded colour palette, the total gamut is based on a smaller set of 10 Pantone Mixing Bases, plus Pantone Clear, that are available anywhere in the world. In other words, it should be possible to specify any Pantone colour and have it accurately reproduced wherever the job is printed.

The simplified system also allows printers to keep ink inventory to a minimum, while a uniform ink film thicknesses means equal drying times and more control when matching colour on press. This enables press operators to run jobs at the same ink settings, providing, Pantone says, significant production efficiencies.

"The original Pantone Matching System was designed to meet the needs of an industry that was functioning without a precise and reliable way to communicate colour," explained Richard Herbert, president of Pantone, Inc. "The Pantone Goe System works in concert with the Pantone Matching System to empower everyone in the creative and production process with a simpler, more complete, user-friendly workflow from the moment of inspiration to the realisation of a finished project. Just as the original System enabled the industry to step into its future, Pantone Goe will impel designers and printers to stay competitive and versatile in today's challenging and evolving marketplace."

As well as the printed book and swatches, Pantone Goe also includes the myPantone Palettes set of software tools that comprises a palette listing all Pantone colours plus a colour picker with options for selecting a colour within a hue circle or square hue gradient colour picker, or by manually entering RGB or HTML values, which is then matched to the nearest Pantone. An eye-dropper tool lets users pick any colour appearing on their desktop while the colour blender orms a colour gradient between two user-defined colours with up to 83 individual steps between them.

The Color Schemes palette will select colours harmonies - monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split complementary, triadic and tetradic colours - and the Image Palette Builder automatically generate a palette using the dozen dominant colours within an imported image.

The software is compatible with Mac OS X 10.3 or later and Windows XP and Vista.

For more information go to pantone.com. Pantone is an internationally recognised colour standard certified under ISO 9001:2000.

Author: Simon Aughton