How do you import Pantone PMS colors into Illustrator 2024 Color Books

[Dylan332149342n6i]

So from what I've been reading, apparently Pantone took out their presets in the Color Libraries, specific under the drop down of "Color Books". This has become an annoyance and I've also read that people have been able to go back into previous versions of Illustrator to import/export the PANTONE swatches they want.

However, here's what I'm trying to achieve:

- I have a CMYK color that I want to change to a PANTONE color. It used to be that if you wanted to do this, you would click the color, then go to Swatch Libraries > Color Books > PANTONE (Solid Coated), and that would then give you the PANTONE color that resembled your CMYK color the closest.

- The key appears to be that the PANTONEs HAVE to be dropped into the Color Books, which I've yet to figure out how to do. I have no problem importing the PANTONES in as color swatches, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to import them into the "Color Books" panel so that I can select it.

If anyone can help with this, it would be greatly appreciated. Not sure if there's a way to actually import the swatches (aka Save the swatched as a .ASE file)....or if there's another way to convert your CMYK color to the closest matching PANTONE color.

Thanks everyone.

[JNP&G]

28.6

[Ton Frederiks]

Then it should work.

[Ton Frederiks]

With the settings I mentioned.

[JNP&G]

Trying again. Install is very slow now. 

[JNP&G]

Thanks. That time it worked. 🙂 

[Ton Frederiks]

Good to hear it worked. Keep them in a safe place.

You can also put the Pantone .acb files in that InDesign folder and in the Presets Color Books folder in Photoshop.

[JNP&G]

I read that you can pull the PMS books from InDesign as well, but I am not certain how to do that. This is what the swatch library folder has in it. 

[Ton Frederiks · Accepted solution]

Soon it may be no longer possible to download a version that supports Type1 fonts and has the old Pantone libraries.  Adobe only provides installers for the current apps and the previous major version of each

[saddy_4123]

There's no versions older than 28 available for download anymore, it seems. How can I still put my colors in Pantone? I don't have an older version, because I've just started to use Illustrator.

[Monika Gause]

You can subscribe to Pantone Connect.

Or you can buy a printed swatches book- if you want to work professionally with Pantone spot inks, you'll need that anyway - and then just set up spot colors. Talk to the printer before (!) production.

It's not advisable to download Pantone libraries that are offered on the web for free download. Pantone has changed the definitions of some colors.

[ana_1188]

Well,  older versions are not available anymore....sadly.

I do have the DVD  of Creative Suite 6,  do you think I can extract the pantones from such an old version? 

[Monika Gause]

If you can get it to install. https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-suite/kb/cs6-install-instructions.html

There should be an old Photoshop version that still has the Pantone libraries.

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, Photoshop 22.2, from the older versions that can be installed, still has the color books.

[amy_1699]

Pantone presets were removed from Illustrator’s Color Books due to licensing changes. While you can import Pantone swatches as .ASE files, they won’t appear under Swatch Libraries > Color Books by default.

Alternative Solutions:

:white_heavy_check_mark: Use Pantone Connect Plugin: Install the Pantone Connect extension from Adobe Exchange to access updated Pantone colors.
:white_heavy_check_mark: Manually Convert CMYK to Pantone: Use Pantone’s online converter or Adobe Color to find the closest match.
:white_heavy_check_mark: Revert to an Older Illustrator Version: Open an older version, export Pantone swatches, and import them into your current Illustrator as an .ASE or .ACO file.