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since89KW
Participant
November 16, 2017
Question

CMYK value changes of pantone color

  • November 16, 2017
  • 2 replies
  • 3254 views

When i open a logo in illustrator and copy paste this into a new document sometimes the CMYK color value of a pantone color changes. I have been having this problem for a long while but now I want to clearify the cause of this problem once and for all. In my opinion the right value is the CMYK value in the new document, this one is most similar to the real pantone color (on screen). But it's just weird that this happens. For example the CMYK value of Pantone 021c in the first document (always a delivered logo/document) is 0/53/100/0, in the new document is this 0/78/100/0.

I think the problem is that the ones who made the logo, did this in a older version of adobe. So this CMYK values are not up to date for full colour printing material.

So when you copy and paste this color into a new document, your newer adobe version notifies that it's pantone 021c and automatically changes the value. However, that's just an assumption. And i want to know the REAL cause of the problem

I checked all settings, color profiles etc. And that's the same in both documents.

Someone else also discovered or having this problem? And/or someone knows what the real cause of this problem is?

Hope someone can answer my issue. Many thanks in advance!

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    2 replies

    Ton Frederiks
    Community Expert
    Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 16, 2017

    The old document uses the old Pantone CMYK values.

    New documents use Lab values and color management to calculate the CMYK simulation for a solid Pantone color.

    Pantone Plus color libraries

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Bill SilbertCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 16, 2017

    The problem is that PANTONE has changed the CMYK values of all of its colors several times over the last ten to twelve years. The stated reason for this is that advancing technology has made it possible to make more accurate breakdowns that are closer to simulating the actual spot color. The colors listed in the PANTONE+ Color Bridge Coated library contain the breakdowns that are now considered by PANTONE the latest and greatest. The PANTONE+ Solid Coated library is defined as LAB color but if you go into the Swatch Options for those colors and change the Color Mode to CMYK you'll see that the values are very different than the Color Bridge versions. For example 021c for Color Bridge (suffix CP) is 0/65/100/0 and the Solid Coated (suffix C) is 0/82.63/100/0. Many people now set Color Profiles to automatically set the way that color is handled and different profiles for your logo supplier and you may explain why your CMYK values are changing. It does become confusing as to what way to go when defining the colors to be used in your workflow. In the advertising agency that I work in we made a decision several years ago to use the latest PANTONE Color Bridge values (since they actually make the inks and we figure they should know) and have had that work out for us very well. But overall this is a case of too many choices.

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