Pixels To Print: Pick Your Pantones!

The Pantone Matching System (or PMS for short) is the universal language of color. With a sea of colors to choose from, Pantone is the standard in the printing and design industries for color replication. Similar to baking a cake, each color has a predetermined recipe to ensure it is created the exact same way each and every time. This way, your logo that's on your brochures matches everything from the logo on your mugs to the logo on your t-shirts.

Another added benefit of selecting and using Pantone colors is that they have the lowest chance of color variation during the printing process. CMYK printers work with a number of different variables that at times can produce variation in color. We advise our clients to remove this risk all together by preselecting and printing using Pantone colors. Not only will taking care of this beforehand save you time when communicating with designers and printers, but it will also save you from having to review multiple proofs regarding how close the CMYK colors match your original brand colors.

Pro Tip: When choosing what colors to use for your brand, start off the process by selecting Pantone colors first. You can always convert those colors to CMYK and RGB values later. This way, all of your colors will match perfectly!

Your brand is your company's identity, so it's important to always keep it consistent. Take a look at Coca-Cola for instance. What do you think would happen if Coca-Cola's red color printed slightly more orange from time to time? It may alter your perception of what their signature red color actually is, and in turn could very easily convey to their customers that they're not worried about brand consistency or quality control. It's one of those instances where taking the extra time to go through this process correctly beforehand may go unnoticed by your customers, but will save you from some major headaches down the road.

At NorthPoint, we always prefer to know your true Pantone colors. This way, we can be confident in offering you consistent color replication across any medium, every time. It also helps to cut down on design time and eliminates most risks of your colors not printing correctly. Save yourself and your company time and money by being prepared with your Pantone colors! Glossary PMS: Pantone Matching System CMYK: Cyan - Magenta - Yellow - Black RGB: Red - Green - Blue