Pantone & Lab colour codes help!

[detailed_Gem0D45]

Hey,

I have a quick question regarding InDesign's Pantone exports.

I used PANTONE Color Manager to import a few Pantone swatches that InDesign was missing but the colors have been imported as Lab codes. Does this mean that they are no longer Pantone? If I export my PDF for print, will the printers find the exact Pantone Colour codes? Do I need to convert the Lab codes?

Thanks in advance

[SJRiegel]

If you are using Pantone spot inks, the screen definition of the color won't have any effect on how it prints; the printer would be using a specially mixed ink to make the color. The ink is mixed according to the Pantone formula, not your screen image.

[Laubender · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Ana-luisa!

The main question is: Will you print the PANTONE colors as spot colors?
Or will you convert them at any point in your workflow to CMYK?

If you want to go to press with spot colors then the name of the spot color is the most important thing.

Regards,
Uwe

[detailed_Gem0D45]

Hey,

Thanks for the reply!

I will be using Pantone colours (assuming as spot colors) because the printers have requested pantone codes.

At this point, the names are aligned with the original Pantone names but they are Lab codes. Is that accurate?

It's all a bit confusing.

Thanks,

Ana

[Laubender]

Yes, that's accurate.

As long as the printer is printing spot colors according to the name and the inks in the press room are mixed according to the recipe that comes from PANTONE.

Regards,
Uwe

[rob day]

At this point, the names are aligned with the original Pantone names but they are Lab codes. Is that accurate?

It's all a bit confusing.

Pantone switched to Lab definitions for their solid ink libraries starting with CS6—Lab values will preview spot colors more accurately on a well calibrated screen.

If your output is process CMYK Pantone now provides separate libraries with single CMYK values named PANTONE + Color Bridge. The Color Bridge colors are not spot color and are CMYK simulations of the solid ink swatches.