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davidhunternyc
davidhunternyc
Known Participant
June 9, 2013
Answered

Pantone Dark Grey Suggestions

  • June 9, 2013
  • 1 reply
  • 25871 views

Hello,

I am trying to make business cards in Adobe Illustrator using the Pantone Color System. In my logo, the middle circle is a dark grey: C20 Y20 M20 K80. I can't find a suitable Pantone grey that is this dark. Pantone 425U is too light. Do you have any suggestions? Also, which Pantone Black is the darkest? Thanks.

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Correct answer Jacob Bugge

David,

You may consider something like Pantone Black 7C or 439/440 for the dark grey and Pantone 6C for the black.

1 reply

Jacob Bugge
Community Expert
Jacob BuggeCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
June 9, 2013

David,

You may consider something like Pantone Black 7C or 439/440 for the dark grey and Pantone 6C for the black.

davidhunternyc
davidhunternycAuthor
Known Participant
June 9, 2013

Thank you Jacob. What is the difference between U and C? I would imagine that C is coated and would not work on matte business cards?

Also, I just checked. Pantone Black 7C is: C0 M0 Y15 K82. This is as close to my original CMYK colors as I'm going to get. Thanks.

Jacob Bugge
Community Expert
Jacob BuggeCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 10, 2013

Mike,

I will probably be hiring someone out of the area to do the "real" letterpress printing. The problem is, how would I know they are using the Pantones? I live in NYC and I'm thinking about hiring someone in Romania to do this job? Apparently, 877U is metallic so I will be using:

Logo Front: Pantone Colors-

Black Background: Pantone Black 6U

Big Apple Photo Tours: Pantone Cool Gray 7U

Dark Grey Circle: Pantone Black 7U


Text Back: Pantone Colors-

David Hunter: Pantone Black 6U

bigapplephototours.com: Pantone Cool Gray 7U

212-942-3938: Pantone Cool Gray 7U


David,

To think ink, and before seeing the back and still wondering what the paler grey was supposed to be, I was about to suggest a possible simple way of getting a hard hit on the black, namely overprinting with a reversal of the front colours, using two inks, namely Black 7 with 100% for the dark grey aperture (slightly increased to form a spread) and 50% for (the rest of) the background (the latter might suit you or not, still leaning towards the golden to an obviously different degree) and (the non golden) Black 6 on top as a Compound Path with the actual aperture and Type as holes (total background ink coverage 287).

Seeing the need for a 100% paler grey ink on the back (and the choice of the (neutral) Cool Gray 7) changes this, so you may use the Black 7 with (sufficient) spread into the Cool Gray 7 of the background round the aperture and still with Black 6 on top as a Compound Path with the actual aperture and Type as holes; you may find this too tricky, especially if you are far from the print shop, although the sheer darkness may cover any misregistration/exaggerated trapping (total background ink coverage 285).

Apart from the obvious advantages of your being able to walk into a nearby print shop, the choice of printer is a matter of trust/reputation concerning the whole work, not only inks, and applying to the specific printer rather than country.

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