Spot colors-How to use

[Olivia29058223ob0z]

How do I use spot colors? Do I need to use them whenever I make print materials like brochure, business cards, flyers, etc?

If I have a color I want to use (ie Hex #0b6db7, how do I get it's spot color number? Do I have to find a Pantone number to exactly match the color I want to use or do I have to find a color similar to it?

[Scott Falkner]

When you print in colour you usually use process colours. Everything is printed as a percentage of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black inks. This lets you produce a wide range of colours, but not as much colour as RGB colours used for displays. Some colours cannot be reproduced using CMYK (K for Black) inks. WHen you need a specific colour recreated, like a corporate colour in a logo, you use a Spot colour. This is a colour mixed by the printer. The most common system used for specifying spot colours is Pantone. A designer would have a Pantone swatch book. Swatches in the book are printed using the same inks a printer uses. If you want a specific red, say Pantone 285, you look it up in your swatch book to see how it will print. Your printer (the person, not the device) will have the same guide and instructions on how to mix that colour using inks purchased from Pantone.

Pantone is the most common system for specifying spot colours, but it is not hte only system. In fact you can show your printer anything ans ask them to match it. Even a mustard stain on a lab coat.

Generally, if you have to ask waht a spot colour is you probably don’t need to use one.

[Olivia29058223ob0z]

I am making a logo. If I have the cmyk and rgb colors, how do I get the spot colors for the logo? Please see attached for reference. Thank you.

[John Mensinger]

Your approach is the reverse of typical. You say you're "making" a logo; does that mean you're designing a new logo for a brand where no logo or corporate identity exists? When designing a brand identity from scratch, the designer would typically specify the color(s) as spot ink(s), with CMYK and RGB approximations following; not the other way around. So, what I mean is, if you're choosing those colors, start with spot color, as opposed to RGB and CMYK.

[John Mensinger]

Just adding to Scott's competent explanation, if you're designing for print, (the only valid application for spot color), forget specifying colors using Hexadecimal codes, which are unrelated to print color specification. Spot colors are primarily specified when an exact color match is desired (which is why systems like Pantone are called 'color matching' systems), or for colors that can't be reproduced with process inks, i.e., metallic, flourescent, etc.

 https://www.askdesign.biz/blog/2014/09/spot-color-how-and-why-to-use-it/

[Olivia29058223ob0z]

Thank you all for the responses.

[rob day]

Hi @Olivia29058223ob0z , Also, Spot colors can only be printed via a separated print process like offset printing where you are specifying an extra color separation and the color is run on an additional plate. Normally you can not print a true spot color from a composite printer. Spot colors on an offset press would typically be an added cost.