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Taso Katsionis
Known Participant
July 18, 2020
Answered

Color Bridge Swatch does not match

  • July 18, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 4727 views

I am finding it challenging in recent months with making sure that colours in Pantone Color Bridge match from the physical swatches to all the Adobe software and have wasted time searching... so have resorted in posting here to short cut my efforts in hope someone in the know can assist.

 

When adding a new swatch (Pantone + Color Bridge in the latest Adobe CC versions) the CMYK colours don't match the physical swatch that I purchased last month to update my 5-year-old edition.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer rob day

Thanks Rob,

 

whilst I understand Pantone is a 3rd Party, it was and should still be an intrinsic part of the workflow... Pantone not responding has not helped at all.

 

In most cases I don't know the destination presses I have it as a default the FOGRA39 profile that suits Aus - I've been using Colour Bridge for many years and have exclusively used these swatches for clients work to maintain the consistency online and in print.

 

Regards

Taso

 

 


Hi Taso, Pantone has a new CC extension that is different than the Pantone Color Manager. You can install it from InDesign via Window>Find Extensions on Exchange—search for Pantone Connect.

 

The web extension connects to Pantone’s website and you can search for any Pantone Color without leaving InDesign. So I can search for 2757CP and get the current Bridge CMYK value. There is also an option to create a Pantone account, which adds some features to the extension. The extension would not be a replacement for the Pantone Color Manager application, which lets you export full Pantone books as .acb files, but it does let you get current Pantone values — Lab for solid ink colors and CMYK for simulations, and their conversions to other spaces.

 

2 replies

Ashutosh_Mishra
Ashutosh_Mishra
Inspiring
July 25, 2020

Hi there,

 

Thanks for reaching out. I hope your issue is resolved now. We'd appreciate if you can mark the appropriate answer correct.

If you used any other method, please share it here. It'll help other users having similar concern.

If you still have issues, let us know. We'll be happy to help.

 

Regards,

Ashutosh

T
Taso KatsionisAuthor
Known Participant
July 26, 2020

Hi Ashutosh,

 

I've reached out to Pantone which should be Adobe's job to fix... but no reply since I posted this.

 

I'm looking for consistency of a workflow that I have been using to for over 20 years.... ie you punch in a number and the breakup matches your swatch... I recently bought a new colour swatch (600AUD) hoping that the numbers would match Adobe's colour books that are installed.

 

Now I have to cross-check the Pantone website and my swatches to make sure the colour conversion in Adobe has any resemblance to what I am seeing, this is a waste of time and has reduce my confidence in the software.

 

I ended up just confirming the colour breakup that I was comfortable with representing the colour on screen and print.

 

Regards,

Taso

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
August 6, 2020

Thanks Rob,

 

I've installed it and now use this extension with my swatches... though the usability is a little clunky, you can't copy out the readings to set up style guides easily, need to go into the website that is feeding this extension. That and it is a paid tool are the only problems really.

 

Thanks for following up.

Taso.


Did you try the Pantone Color Manager 30 day trial? It’s not the same as Pantone Connect, but if you want updated .acb book files installed, you should be able to export them with the free trial.

 

Pantone Connect would be useful if you are looking for a new color that is not included in the installed .acb books. Not sure if and when they are going to try and charge for the Connect extension, but it looks like the value lookup will always be free—you don’t need to create an account to get values.

 

I’ve never thought the Bridge libraries are particularly useful, but Connect would let you get whatever value Pantone currently thinks works as a simulation. But, there isn’t a definitive CMYK simulation value that always matches, that’s why they keep changing the process definitions.

rob day
Community Expert
rob dayCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 18, 2020

The Pantone Libraries that ship with InDesign haven’t changed since CS6. Pantone may have changed the Bridge values. If you purchased new swatch books, you should be able to get Pantone’s color manager utility at no extra cost, which would have the latest libraries.

 

https://www.pantone.com/products/digital-apps/pantone-color-manager-software

 

The Bridge swatches are CMYK process simulations of the solid ink spot swatches, and would change in appearance depending on the press conditions, so keep in mind the Bridge colors could not account for different press conditions. Even referencing a printed swatch book wouldn’t be exact because your job’s press profile might not match the press profile used to print the swatch book.

 

You can also make color managed conversions for specific press conditions from the solid ink Lab values.

 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/branding-color-guide/td-p/10818696?page=1

 

    T
    Taso KatsionisAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 18, 2020

    Thanks Rob,

     

    I'll chase up Pantone on getting the colour manager... we all want consistency and contributing for clients with colours then overlay software profiles - print conditions, try making a client understand that is probably the hardest part.

     

    Thanks for the links.

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