Converting Pantone to CMYK

Whenever I have trouble communicating the colour to the Printer / Painter / Powdercoater, I send them a physical sample of the colour, to be matched under daylight. We can spec. as close as possible with PMS / CMYK, but sometimes it won't translate well due to the recipient's digital hardware & software / PMS book (may be old). So the fallback is always physical sample.

(from a former commercial offset press operator)

Pantone, or "spot", colors (inks) have far greater gamut (range of possible colors) than Process color (the combination of ink colors Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). Process is 4 printing units each laying down one of the colors CMYK, one after the other. Pantone spot colors are a single ink that is formulated to precisely the desired color, used in a single printing unit laying down only that one colored ink. Conversion from Pantone to CMYK is never an exact match because you're converting a color from a large gamut to a smaller gamut. Some colors convert better than others. Particularly tough are orange and violet hues. When you say "Doesn't really seem as close", that will always be the case going to Process color. It's a fact of life. In most cases the general feeling is a lack of saturation. As a designer with knowledge of this limitation, I sometimes fudge the color build to help. For any process components not 100% but near it, I'll pump them up, maybe all the way, maybe not, and pretty much always ditch small amounts of black that show up in a color build, to brighten the color. It's as much an art as a science.

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@Rafael26281653wpvv wrote:

What is the best way to convert any Pantone to CMYK,

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One other thought: have you talked to the print shop about this?

Jane

@Rafael26281653wpvv 

Note that the Pantone website includes this disclaimer:

"*Before using, understand that the colors shown on this site are computer simulations of the PANTONE Colors and may not match PANTONE-identified color standards. Always consult PANTONE Publications to visually evaluate any result before utilization."

https://www.pantone.com/connect/226-C

Pantone colors are intended for print. There are 18 base colors that get mixed according to specifications. The absolute best way to find out how a Pantone color will print is to look at a Pantone book and not at your monitor.

"Printers order specific spot colors by their identification number, or mix them using the Pantone Ink Mixing Formula. Creating a Pantone Spot Color is similar in concept to mixing yellow and blue paints to make green—only with a much greater degree of precision. Spot colors are mixed in the ink room or by an ink supplier, using a palette of 18 base ink colors and a unique Pantone Ink Mixing Formula. A Pantone Chip should be included with the ink as a reference, to help ensure the printer achieves the intended color intent on press. Spot colors are added to a single deck on the press and printed as a custom color, and when the job is done, the spot color ink must be removed.

"To manufacture the 18 base inks used for mixing PMS Colors, ink manufacturers must be licensed by Pantone, and in order to retain their license, they must annually submit samples of the base ink colors for approval. These quality control measures help ensure Pantone Spot Colors are reproduced consistently around the world."

https://www.pantone.com/articles/color-fundamentals/understanding-different-color-spaces

If there is a reason you need the Pantone colors (such as corporate branding), then you will need to get the app from Pantone now that they have pulled out of Adobe.

If you are going to use CMYK, just use a best match. Proper color management is essential.

Jane

Start here:

http://digitaldog.net/files/CMYKPart1.pdf

http://digitaldog.net/files/CMYKPart2.pdf

You need a specific profile that defines the CMYK you wish to convert to; that's the bottom line. 

Boiler plate text: a) None of this matters without color management and b) some colors cannot be converted to CMYK and retain the same vibrancy and gamut (which is the reason spot colors exist in the first place) and c) some of these colors cannot be perfectly approximated on screen for display purposes. So there you have it, there could be several reasons. Anything more specific will require actual info about your system, color management settings, what colors you are trying to convert and so on. Screenshots would also be useful so we can advise on how to improve your results.

Mylenium