Pantone: The Global Standard for Accurate Colour Communication in Signage

It’s a universal fact that consumers have only 5–7 seconds to recognise their favourite brands in which colours are very important element in it. “Pantone, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, is the key to this recognition process which most of the global brand managers rely on,” explains SS Shalgaonkar (Sam), adding, “For signage printer and producer, Pantone is a universally accepted language for ‘Colour Specification and Communication’.

Sam continues, “For professional signage and graphic arts producers, it’s very important for them to understand Pantone’s Color Systems, Pantone Tools, Pantone Language… it’s like the Alphabets of Colours. When they enter the business of executing turnkey signage or branding projects with big brands, particularly in tier-I and tier-II cities, it is important to understand the Colour Accuracy and Consistency. It helps them gain early acceptance.”

It is misconception that Pantone Colors are difficult to achieve. Pantone Books are printed using universally available printing technologies. Hence, it is possible to achieve Pantone Colors. There are certain parameters or procedures when it comes to matching Pantone. In this respect, Sam explains, “If you are a sign maker or a signage print service provider who is assigned, for example, to a McDonald’s project, your challenge is to maintain the brand colour through accurate colour reproduction. That’s where Pantone comes in; it defines the exact colour standard to follow.”

According to Sam, a standard procedure to print the exact McDonald’s yellow is to match it to the exact Pantone Color Number. “You need to find out the Pantone Number for the specific yellow of McDonald’s from the specific PMS Library, without any guess work what colour would it be. After that, you need to comprehend what types of printing technologies and inks can be used to reproduce the specific brand colour,” he mentions.

Sam further mentions, “These Pantone Color Numbers come with unique digital data, which is the DNA of that colour, and we have those master standard values defined beforehand. Referring directly to the Pantone Books physically or Pantone Connect online, then you can get uniquedata of the particular colour, helping you to reproduce the same colour physically or digitally. Pantone Connect app hosts over 15,000 Pantone Colors with digital data.”

Finally, it’s essential to understand brand’s acceptable Delta E (ΔE) levels which are the difference between the displayed colour and the original colour standards. Lower Delta E figure indicates greater colour accuracy and ensuring client’s expectations are met. In this, Spectrophotometer is the device, either handheld or inline, that ensures more accuracy in reproducing colours. Alternatively, another more economical device called Pantone RM200QC Imaging Spectrocolorimeter is elegant and portable unit which can be used for quick colour evaluation and can tell if the colour is PASSED or FAILED against a pre-determined target.

“Sometimes, many print service providers or brand managers don’t use the objective methods or equipment. They rely on visual assessment with their own naked eyes, which is subjective and prone to error. In such cases, we recommend to use the simple Farnsworth Munsell 100 Hue Test, which is fun, quick way to better understand your colour vision acuity,” suggests Sam.

Last but not least, Sam says choosing a PV (Pantone Validated) monitor, for example, from BenQ or other calibrated models, is imperative further more for sign producers or print service providers to ensure that the monitor can display accurate Pantone Colors which will help them to translate screen colours into print.