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rigoliarts
rigoliarts
Inspiring
March 21, 2013
Answered

Find closest Pantone spot colors for cmyk colors?

  • March 21, 2013
  • 5 replies
  • 92039 views

Using CS6 on a MacBookPro

Is there a way to find the closest matching Pantone spot colors to the cmyk colors I've created in Illustrator?

I know it's easy in Photoshop using the color picker, but there must be a way to do this in Illustrator.

Help?

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer abelcher1987

    Use Photoshop in tandem to do this.  You first need to know which Pantone color book you plan on using.  As far as I know it's usually solid uncoated.

    1. Open up your AI file in Photoshop.
    2. Make sure you choose CMYK as your color mode (this is extremely important.)
    3. Grab the color picker tool ( i )
    4. Click on the first color
    5. Then click on 'picked' swatch in your toolbar
    6. In the Picker dialogue window, choose 'Color Libraries'
    7. You can now browse to PANTONE solid uncoated from the top drop-down in the next window
    8. At this point, Photoshop will match your selection with a color from the PANTONE color library you chose.  Write it down.
    9. Jump back to Illustrator.
    10. Choose a shape with the same first color you chose in Photoshop.
    11. In your swatches window, click the little icon in the bottom left (it says 'Swatch Libraries menu' on hover)
    12. Hover to Color Books, then click on 'Pantone Solid Uncoated'
    13. Wow! Rainbow box! But it's messy so let's clean it up. 
    14. In the palette options drown-down (it's the icon in the top right that looks like an arrow with a bunch of lines) choose 'Sort by Name'
    15. Now you can easily choose the PANTONE color Photoshop guessed for you.
    16. The selected piece of artwork will automatically update to the PANTONE color you clicked on.j

    It's MUCH simpler than it sounds.  I'm just explaining it like you're FYO.

    5 replies

    Vitor Jorge
    Vitor Jorge
    Participant
    September 15, 2021

    https://www.pantone.com/color-finder

    kimberlya11356825
    kimberlya11356825
    Participant
    November 6, 2018

    You can easily find the matching pantone color w/i Illustrator.

    1. Select the object with the color you want to match.

    2. Go to "Edit." ---> "Edit Colors" and select "Recolor Artwork."

    3. Click on the swatches icon located to the right of the color adjustment sliders. Select "Color Books" from the drop-down menu and choose a Pantone color book to limit the colors used in your illustration to Pantone swatches.

    4. Click OK to close the dialog box and convert the CMYK colors to Pantone colors.

    5. You can then hover over the new color swatch in the swatches panel to get the name of the Pantone.

    D
    daniell70286701
    Participant
    January 6, 2016

    Searching around I've found an easier way to do this, completely within Illustrator without the need to switch back and forth between Photoshop to boot

    Basically, select all the artwork that you would like to change to closest Pantone match, open the 'Recolor Artwork' window and select the Pantone colour book that you would like match your colours to from there

    More detailed steps here -

    How to Convert CMYK to PMS With Adobe Illustrator | Chron.com

    Hope this helps

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    January 6, 2016

    daniell70286701 schrieb:

    Searching around I've found an easier way to do this,

    See answer #4 in this thread.

    A
    abelcher1987Correct answer
    Participant
    October 21, 2014

    Use Photoshop in tandem to do this.  You first need to know which Pantone color book you plan on using.  As far as I know it's usually solid uncoated.

    1. Open up your AI file in Photoshop.
    2. Make sure you choose CMYK as your color mode (this is extremely important.)
    3. Grab the color picker tool ( i )
    4. Click on the first color
    5. Then click on 'picked' swatch in your toolbar
    6. In the Picker dialogue window, choose 'Color Libraries'
    7. You can now browse to PANTONE solid uncoated from the top drop-down in the next window
    8. At this point, Photoshop will match your selection with a color from the PANTONE color library you chose.  Write it down.
    9. Jump back to Illustrator.
    10. Choose a shape with the same first color you chose in Photoshop.
    11. In your swatches window, click the little icon in the bottom left (it says 'Swatch Libraries menu' on hover)
    12. Hover to Color Books, then click on 'Pantone Solid Uncoated'
    13. Wow! Rainbow box! But it's messy so let's clean it up. 
    14. In the palette options drown-down (it's the icon in the top right that looks like an arrow with a bunch of lines) choose 'Sort by Name'
    15. Now you can easily choose the PANTONE color Photoshop guessed for you.
    16. The selected piece of artwork will automatically update to the PANTONE color you clicked on.j

    It's MUCH simpler than it sounds.  I'm just explaining it like you're FYO.

      wax lily
      wax lily
      Inspiring
      July 26, 2015

      Thank you for this!! So easy and helpful compared to the method I was using up to now!

      Ton Frederiks
      Community Expert
      Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 26, 2015

      The method from abelcher1987 is more complicated than the Recolor Artwork method Monika suggested.

      Select an object with the CMYK color and selecting Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork > Preset > 1 color job… > Library > Pantone whatever you like…

      This will give you the exact same Pantone color as  Photoshop would give you if your color settings are the same in both applications.

        Jacob Bugge
        Community Expert
        Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        March 21, 2013

        rigoliarts,

        You may have a look at this recent thread:

        http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1174877?tstart=0

        rigoliarts
        rigoliartsAuthor
        Inspiring
        March 21, 2013

        So, according to the thread mentioned above...

        There is no feature within Illustrator to tell us the closest match to a pantone formula color from a cmyk swatch. We have to go on a time-consuming, round-about scavenger hunt between our swatch panels, pen & paper, and a pantone swatchbook that shows both the formula & cmyk color equivalents. Thanks for nothing.

        I surely thought Illustrator would have such a feature similar to how it gives you the closest web color in the color picker. Even Photoshop has a feature in the color picker to choose the closest Pantone color. C'mon Adobe, how about giving us print designers' a break? Considering that most logo designs are produced in Illustrator, and many clients require Pantone color callouts for their style guidelines and it's necessary for registering a trademark to specify pantone colors of a logo.

        What gives?

          Jacob Bugge
          Community Expert
          Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          March 21, 2013

          You are welcome, rigoliarts.

          It is far from uncommon (and far from unsound) to start by choosing the Pantone colour(s) and then try to get the best possible CMYK match(es).

          Apart from that, the Pantone download mentioned by John in post #3 in that thread might shorten the path and the pain.

          This is no statement about what would or would not be desirable as an inherent feature.

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