Pantone Connect not adding some colors but adding others

Question

I am updating an old document and the color palette shows the PMS colors with CMYK preview. This is “probably” all right but when I use Pantone Connect to add the colors again using the spot color, they won’t update. I can add a new PMS color but I’ve tried putting the art into a new document, making a color swatch in a blank document, and several other options and nothing is work.

In the screenshot below, the Pantone colors on top are what were already in the document (2016) and the CMYK equivalent is what happens when I click on Add to Swatch from Pantone Connect but the color below (PANTONE 4072 C) adds as I would like these other colors to be in the document (see preview icon on the right).

Any idea what might be happening here? The document is CMYK but that shouldn’t prevent me from adding PMS colors to it (at least, it never has before).

BarryRowell · Accepted Answer

It appears to have worked when I opened another file in the same series that had the PMS colors correct. I pasted my art into that layout and I have what I need now. Thanks for your help!

Bill Silbert · Answer

In my experience using PANTONE colors I have found that PANTONE has periodically changed their CMYK breakdowns without any notice to the consumer. In other words whatever way the colors broke down to CMYK in 2016 there is virtually no way that they will breakdownthat way in 2026. I think that you are better off deleting the older colors and redefining them in your document(s). That way your colors will break down in the way that PANTONE is currently recommending. Your colors will then be good until such time thatPANTONE decides to change the breakdowns again. But that’s another story.

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