As of March 2022 Adobe will no longer preload Pantone colour libraries

[edgydoug1]

Does anyone know the details of this recent announcement that Adobe will no longer preload Pantone colour libraries into Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop as of March 2022? Through the usual process of adding colour swatches will there be no listing for Pantone colours at all? Is there a solution to the change and if so what might it be?

[Laubender]

Hi edgydoug1,

do you have a link to this announcement?
That's totally new to me.

Thanks,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[edgydoug1]

here it is: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/swatches.html
highlited in blue box.

[rob day]

The implication seems to be there will be an alternative—maybe something like Pantone Connect lite will be automatically installed? Currently Pantone Connect has a paid version, but to simply get a swatch you don’t need an account. Not sure if it going to stay that way, but in the past Pantone hasn’t tried to restrict swatch sharing. These are the features you get with a paid account:

[rob day]

The Pantone .acb files haven’t been updated since CS6. Assuming the CC apps continue to allow the use of .acb presets, there shouldn’t be a problem with saving the current Pantone .acb files and manually copying them into the Presets Swatch Libraries.

For the latest Pantone libraries you can get the Pantone Connect extemsion—there is a free version which lets you search the libraries and add any swatch to the ID Swatches panel:

[edgydoug1]

very helpful information, thank you. However Adobe's notice on their website is fairly vague and given Adobe's focus in recent years one shareholder interests vs user interests one might assume there's a licensing cost they no longer have an interst in carrying. That said I'm hopefull they have a suitable solution ready to launch.

[rob day]

I think the Pantone Connect extension actually is easier to use than the .acb libraries—the colors are always up-to-date and easy to search.

The only thing to watch out for is the Bridge libraries, which have always been a questionable concept. In theory the Bridge colors are single process CMYK simulations of the Solid Ink colors, but when you add them to the swatches panel they get added as Lab. The Bridge CMYK mix is listed in the extension, but if you think the Pantone build is better than a color managed conversion from the Solid Ink version, you would have to edit the Bridge swatch to CMYK after adding 

[edgydoug1]

that's what I've done in the past is use indesign to convert the Pantone from Bridge to convert to cmyk. Although I don't think I've ever pulled out my Pantone books to compare the conversion.

[rob day]

In the ID .acb libraries, the Bridge swatches are already defined as process CMYK, so there is no conversion to make. The Pantone+ Solid .acb colors are Lab defined Spot, so to color mange a conversion into a specific CMYK space you could start with a Solid Ink color.

If you use a Bridge Swatch out of Pantone Connect, the output CMYK values would not match the Pantone CMYK values listed on the swatch in the extension. I think it’s a bug.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

I see this new development as a way for Pantone to start a subscription service (and therefore, generate a dependable stream of income). 

[rob day]

It look like they are going to continue to offer the search and swatch saving for free.