what is the diff between CMYK and Panntone?

[0818]

hello all. I have designed some projects, but i still don't know the diff. between pantone colors and cmyk colors? I do create my works in Quark EXpress, but i have difficulties going with CMYK or pantone color? thanks for answering.

 

[MyFavoriteLetterIsB]

Pantone is a color library generally used to specify spot colors accurately. Each color is associated with a number so instead of telling your printer the brochure prints Red and Blue, you would say prints 185/072 and this way your printer knows exactly what you mean by Red and Blue and it doesnt end up looking orange and purple.

CMYK or Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black are the four colors used in a process to simulate full color images. CMYK can be used to simulate Pantone colors, but dont usually match exactly.

B

 

[RyanPace]

a little more detail... A pantone color is a sinle premixed ink. CMYK are 4 inks (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) the four inks are combined on a press to create "builds" of color. Which to use, depends on the type of project you are designing. If you have color photos it will be a 4-color process job (CMYK). If you are using black photos and 1 or two other solid colors, it typically will be a spot job. Cost usually is taken into consideration. Since running 4 inks on a press is more expensive than running 2.

This should be one of the first things you will decide in your design process. You should always talk to your printer, to find out the best method. Taking into account cost etc...

You can use the Pantone color model even if your job will be a process job. Just make sure you de-select the spot button in your color menu.

 

[0818]

thank you so much.
My next Q is: my cymk color (green) in quark express dose not match to the cmyk Photoshop (green)? I checked the cmyk number and when i print it out, they do not match? is it my printer, or photoshop color are diff. than quark express color??

 

[MyFavoriteLetterIsB]

If your CMYK values are exactly the same and you have not specified differnt screen angles for the photoshop image, then your colors should look the same on press. Desktop printers will usually appear different even if the colors are an exact match. This is why it is a good policy to always require a prepress proof from the RIPed files.

If the job uses spot colors then for comping purposes (to show your boss or client) you can create a seperate version of the photoshop file (greyscale tif) and color it in quark. This should make the colors match on your desktop output from Quark.

B

 

[jimoblak]

Another option is to employ a color management system using color profiles. My guess is that Photoshop and Quark are using two different profiles.

- - picklefish - -
Why is everyone in this forum responding to me as picklefish?

 

[MarcusStringer]

Also, make sure that the CMYK break down:
ie: when you go to Edit>colours in Quark make sure that the numbers are the same eg.
Cyan=45%
magenta=10%
Yellow =50%
Black =5%
And in Photoshop, in you info Palete those numbers should be the same.

But yes, you need to colour manage all you programs so they are using the same profile

Marcus

http://www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

 

[Chadoe]

Another item is to make sure you have the most current Pantone profiles installed. Pantone updated the values in 2000 so some older programs don't have the correct CMYK values for the current Pantone colors. Quark 4, Photoshop 6, Illustrator 9 and older have the old values. You can download the new color tables from Pantone.com, delete the old tables and install the updated ones.

I also think it is VERY possible that the profiles used by PS and Quark are different. Try printing to the same printer with ALL color management options OFF in the software and allow the printer to color manage the files. Also make sure that any ICC profiles are the same for both files.

Hope this helps.
Chadoe