CMYK and Pantone: Choosing the Right Colour System

Perfect colour accuracy is essential in the world of printing. The correct colour representation in media can change everything in the visual impact – whether for your brand logos, promotional materials, or artistic pieces. Two of the most often used colour systems by designers and printers are CMYK and Pantone. Different strokes for different folks, each has its strengths and uses that lead in unique ways to generate consistent & powerful designs.

This blog covers what CMYK and Pantone are, how they are different, how they were used in practice, and much more.

What are CMYK and Pantone Colours?

CMYK: The Subtractive Colour Model

The subtractive colour model, used in printing, is CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black). These four ink colours are combined to produce a wealth of shades. In the subtractive process, we essentially layer inks onto each other, which absorb (or subtract) certain wavelengths of light leaving the desired colour on the printed surface.

CMYK is highly flexible and cost-effective so it’s prevalent in the printing industry for using materials such as brochures, posters and banners.

Pantone: A Standardised Colour-Matching System

Whereas Pantone is a proprietary colour-matching system with unparalleled consistency. It prints combining inks but uses pre-mixed spot colours instead. All Pantone shades are defined with unique codes, so no matter what the printer, material, or location, colours will be the same.

The primary distinction between CMYK and Pantone lies in their approach: Unlike Pantone, which is excellent at producing accuracy and uniformity, CMYK is mostly known for its cost-effectiveness and variety.

Key Differences Between CMYK and Pantone

When comparing Pantone vs. CMYK, several specialised and functional differences appear at the forefront

Our detailed guide on What Is Acrylic Printing? will tell you more about how acrylic sheets are used for high-quality printing and why it matters to choose the right colour system.

Converting Between CMYK and Pantone

In many cases, designers and printers need to convert colours from CMYK to Pantone or vice versa to maintain colour consistency from format to format or material to material. As you move from digital to physical mediums, this process is particularly essential to preserve your brand identity.

Why Conversion Matters?

While CMYK may be required for large-scale production to reduce costs, Pantone is utilised for design to ensure that colour matching is accurate. The two systems are bridged during conversion to preserve the final output’s alignment with the original design goal.

How to Convert Colours

We need tools like Pantone to CMYK converters to precisely convert colours since we design in colour. These tools offer the ultimate match to the original design in terms of colour – in that it will be perfectly true to the original design.

Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to converting colours using professional design software like Adobe Illustrator

1. Open your design file in the software.
2. Locate the colour palette or swatch menu.
3. Select the Pantone colour you wish to convert.
4. Use the software’s built-in conversion feature to generate the equivalent CMYK values.
5. Preview the results and adjust settings if needed.

And for best results, it’s best to test print it on the material you are going to print on. You can use unique substrates for example acrylic or foamex. You need to ensure that colours appear how you expect.

Conclusion

No matter if you’re making a business card, designing a promotional banner, or a custom acrylic sign, having the right colour system will help you achieve the desired impact. CMYK can be found for cheaper and is more flexible, while Pantone is consistent and precise — and as far as that goes, it’s the best.

Without that understanding, you might end up choosing the wrong colour mode, choosing the incorrect Pantone colour or unexpectedly losing a few shades of grey from your Pantone reference.