Pantone Connect Colors Look Different When In Illustrator

[joseagazzo]

I'm going crazy. The Pantone Connect Plugin Interface shows color in one way, but when I apply them into Illustrator they look way different. What is happening? I'm so confused when it comes to color management. On the right side is Illustrator and on the right Pantone Connect Plugin opened inside Illustrator. My monitor is calibrated with a Spyder X Pro. Shouldn't they look the same? What's happening?

[Jacob Bugge]

Jose,

I believe you are working in CMYK Color Mode. What happens if you start a new RGB document (for web rather than print) and then try?

How about Color Management?

[joseagazzo]

Hello, Jacob! Thank you for replying. Nothing changes regardless of me being in RBG o CMYK color mode. What I did notice however is that when I active Proof Color and select US. Web Uncoated V2 all the uncoated Pantones look the same in Illustrator en in the plugin. But the coated ones now differ. If I change Proof Color to US. Web Coated V2 the inverse happens. I think I'm going somewhere but I'm still pretty much lost, haha.

[Jacob Bugge]

Most intriguing, Jose.

As far as I can see, you have solved the issue, because both uncoated and coated Pantones are corrrect when you apply the corresponding US Web ... V2.

Can you share screenshot of both combinations, so others can enjoy them too?

[Monika Gause]

So it looks like the Pantone plugin uses U.S.Web profiles for their color display. That would be kind of a bad move, because obiously they either don't care about color management or they don't care about their international users. Or maybe even both.

[joseagazzo]

The funny thing is that the Pantone Plugin seems to be showing the Uncoated and Coated colors the correct way inside the plugin. Once I use the Eyedropper tool in Illustrator everything changes, until I change the Profile, but then only the Coated or Uncoated colors (depending which profile I selected) are shown like in the plugin. 

[Monika Gause]

Illustrator uses color management and the Pantone Connect plugin is a bacl box. Nobody knows whether it handles color at all, whether it handles it correctly and which rules it uses.

IOf you want to improve Illustrator's rendering of color:

1. Set up color management the way you need it

2. Turn on the overprint preview. I wouldn't leave it turned on all the time though.