Swatches from the Pantone Matching System (PMS)
Spot colour printing uses specific colours of ink (usually premixed and solid) to produce very consistent, vibrant, and exact matches. These are very important for branding, logos, and designs requiring very precise hues. Each of the spot colours needs its own ink and printing plate in offset printing. This can lead to a higher expense than four colour CMYK printing. A common system for printing spot colours is the Pantone system.
PUBLISHING TIP The Pantone colour system – it’s swatches – aren’t ordered in numerical order. Rather they are grouped by colour family. Don’t spend hours searching the hundreds of swatches. Instead you can use the numerical index secreted away at the back of the swatch block. This references the individual leave of the swatch.
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