What Is Pantone (PMS)?
Updated · Vorex Packaging
Pantone, or PMS (Pantone Matching System), is a standardized color system in which each color has a number and a defined ink formula. Printers mix that ink as a spot color instead of building it from CMYK dots, so brands use Pantone colors to keep a logo or brand color consistent across boxes, bags and labels.
Each Pantone color, such as a specific red or blue, is identified by a code and printed from a premixed ink. Because the ink is mixed to a formula, it is more consistent from one print run to the next than the same color built from CMYK.
When to use Pantone
- Your brand has a defined color that must match across packaging, labels and print.
- The color is outside what CMYK can reproduce, such as some bright oranges, greens or metallics.
- You print with one or two colors and want solid, even coverage.
Things to know
Pantone guides show the same color on coated (C) and uncoated (U) paper, and they look different, so choose the swatch for the surface you are printing on. Kraft and colored boards change the result too. Digital presses typically simulate spot colors with CMYK or extended gamut inks, so an exact match is not always possible. Name the Pantone swatch in your artwork file and confirm on the proof how it will be printed.
