Pantones Question

[gbasalmon]

I'm trying to put together a modernized Bills concept (I know, the 3,007th on this board, but my first) and I was messing around with the Pantone swatches in Illustrator and I think I found some that work well together and are relatively close to their current values. But the snag I've hit is that I'm not sure whether I should use uncoated or coated pantones for my concept. The silver that I've decided on is 877 C, which I'm reasonably sure means it's coated. However, the red and blue I've chosen, 7417 U and 7455 U respectively, would definitely seem to be uncoated. Should I change my red and blue to coated so that they all are, or leave it as is? I realize that this probably too in depth for a simple concept, but I hope all of you won't think so.

[Blackjack76]

As PANTONE has stated before "Coated, almost always coated." You can do a search and find this previous thread.

[machpost]

As PANTONE has stated before "Coated, almost always coated." You can do a search and find this previous thread.

This is true. I would stick with the coated Pantone values, unless you're planning on having them printed professionally on uncoated stock.

[TruColor]

...what THEY said...

[gbasalmon]

Gotcha, all I'm doing to the Bills logo is outlining it all in silver and incorporating a lighter blue for shading on the buffalo's body ( back, head, beard, and detail around the stripe). Also, if I would have picked up my ESPN The Magazine with the Nationals article, I would have answered my own question...

[eddie010]

I also have a question regarding PANTONEs:

Is there a site, or a program where you can match the CMYK or RGB values to the closest PANTONE, or do you have to look manually through your entire library to find the exact colour? If there is such a thing on the SSUR, I haven't found it. Or perhaps I'm just dreaming in technicolour?

[artvandelay]

If you are using Illustrator all you have to do is select the Pantone color and then change it to CMYK or RGB and you'll get the values.

[gbasalmon]

OK, I've changed all of the colors to coated, and here's what I've come up with. If any of these Pantones are used by any other NFL teams, I'd be interested to know that...

Dark Blue (body and legs of buffalo) - 526 C

Red (streak and eye of buffalo) - 193 C

Silver (outline of whole logo and highlights on eye) - 877 C

Lighter Blue (highlights on body of buffalo) - 7455 C

[eddie010]

If you are using Illustrator all you have to do is select the Pantone color and then change it to CMYK or RGB and you'll get the values.

No, I think you understood me wrong. I'm trying to do the opposite. Get a CMYK or RGB colour, and convert it to the closest matching PANTONE colour. Can anyone help? Sorry, gba for semi-hijacking your thread...

[TruColor]

I also have a question regarding PANTONEs:

Is there a site, or a program where you can match the CMYK or RGB values to the closest PANTONE, or do you have to look manually through your entire library to find the exact colour? If there is such a thing on the SSUR, I haven't found it. Or perhaps I'm just dreaming in technicolour?

I just responded to a PM about this...

I actually built a utility that allows me to do this.

Here's a screen shot of what it looks like:

I can put in RGB values, or CMYK values, set the variance (plus or minus a value), set the color types wanted (i.e., solid colors, metallics, textiles, etc.), and it returns the closest values to those input.

This is was built in MS Access (soon to be converted to SQL Server however), and unfortunately I can't sell it. Lots of legal stuff would have to be worked out first...I've got over 33,000 colors in this database, and I'm sure it's all proprietary information.

However, if any of you want some matches, I'd be glad to help you out.

[TruColor]

OK, I've changed all of the colors to coated, and here's what I've come up with. If any of these Pantones are used by any other NFL teams, I'd be interested to know that...

Dark Blue (body and legs of buffalo) - 526 C

Red (streak and eye of buffalo) - 193 C

Silver (outline of whole logo and highlights on eye) - 877 C

Lighter Blue (highlights on body of buffalo) - 7455 C

Let me show what those colors would look like in reality (not the crappy color space that Adobe uses):

DARK BLUE (?) - 526 C

RED - 193 C

SILVER - 877 C

LIGHT BLUE - 7455 C

You can see that 526 C is actually Purple (think Lakers' Purple). This is part of the problem in translating CMYK to RGB colors in Adobe. Purples look Blue.

[the_cynic]

As PANTONE has stated before "Coated, almost always coated."  You can do a search and find this previous thread.

This is true. I would stick with the coated Pantone values, unless you're planning on having them printed professionally on uncoated stock.

Does it really matter in this case whether he uses coated or uncoated? I know he's creating a concept but he's probably only going to display it on here in JPEG or GIF format making the Pantone values he's using almost useless unless like you said he plans to produce this professional on uncoated stock (like traditional business cards) or on a football helmet (where the coated values come in handy).

I also have a question regarding PANTONEs:

Is there a site, or a program where you can match the CMYK or RGB values to the closest PANTONE, or do you have to look manually through your entire library to find the exact colour? If there is such a thing on the SSUR, I haven't found it. Or perhaps I'm just dreaming in technicolour?

I just responded to a PM about this...

I actually built a utility that allows me to do this.

Here's a screen shot of what it looks like:

I can put in RGB values, or CMYK values, set the variance (plus or minus a value), set the color types wanted (i.e., solid colors, metallics, textiles, etc.), and it returns the closest values to those input.

This is was built in MS Access (soon to be converted to SQL Server however), and unfortunately I can't sell it. Lots of legal stuff would have to be worked out first...I've got over 33,000 colors in this database, and I'm sure it's all proprietary information.

However, if any of you want some matches, I'd be glad to help you out.

Pantone, you're sweet man!

[gbasalmon]

OK, I've changed all of the colors to coated, and here's what I've come up with.  If any of these Pantones are used by any other NFL teams, I'd be interested to know that...

Dark Blue (body and legs of buffalo) - 526 C

Red (streak and eye of buffalo) - 193 C

Silver (outline of whole logo and highlights on eye) - 877 C

Lighter Blue (highlights on body of buffalo) - 7455 C

Let me show what those colors would look like in reality (not the crappy color space that Adobe uses):

DARK BLUE (?) - 526 C

RED - 193 C

SILVER - 877 C

LIGHT BLUE - 7455 C

You can see that 526 C is actually Purple (think Lakers' Purple). This is part of the problem in translating CMYK to RGB colors in Adobe. Purples look Blue.

Thanks for the heads up, Pantone. I didn't even realize that it was purple, due to the reason you put forth. So I'm sure it's actual blue, I've switched it to 282 C, which according to ESPN The Magazine and I'm assuming the official MLB Style Guide, is the blue that the Washington Nationals will be using.

Oh, and does the closeness of the purple to blue, at least to my eyes, explain, at least in some small way, why the Lakers' purple is/was referred to as forum blue? Probably not...

[pcgd]

There is this device from PANTONE called a colorcue. its handheld and it will scan any object like fabric, plastic, wood, whatever. It then gives you the closest PANTONE color, the closest CMYK, RGB, etc. It was so freakin' cool. (I saw it at a trade show) I think they run between 200-300 bucks.

[TruColor]

There is this device from PANTONE called a colorcue. its handheld and it will scan any object like fabric, plastic, wood, whatever. It then gives you the closest PANTONE color, the closest CMYK, RGB, etc. It was so freakin' cool. (I saw it at a trade show) I think they run between 200-300 bucks.

I've got one of those right here at my desk...

(who's surprised?)

[andrewharrington]

from how PC describes it, it sounds very similar to the scanner BEHR has at home depot, where you take a sample to it, select what material it is, then the thing scans it, and gives you the closest paint color.

[the_cynic]

Pantone, can you answer the following?

Does it really matter in this case whether he uses coated or uncoated? I know he's creating a concept but he's probably only going to display it on here in JPEG or GIF format making the Pantone values he's using almost useless unless like you said he plans to produce this professional on uncoated stock (like traditional business cards) or on a football helmet (where the coated values come in handy).

[Roger Clemente]

You can see that 526 C is actually Purple (think Lakers' Purple). This is part of the problem in translating CMYK to RGB colors in Adobe. Purples look Blue.

Is that why the Lakers call their color "Forum Blue"?

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[machpost]

Is there a site, or a program where you can match the CMYK or RGB values to the closest PANTONE, or do you have to look manually through your entire library to find the exact colour? If there is such a thing on the SSUR, I haven't found it. Or perhaps I'm just dreaming in technicolour?

In Photoshop's color picker, if you choose a CMYK or RGB color and then click on "Custom," you will be directed to what Adobe believes to be a close approximation. I'm not sure how accurate this is in print, as I can't recall every trying this on a job.

[the_cynic]

Pantone, can you answer the following?

Does it really matter in this case whether he uses coated or uncoated? I know he's creating a concept but he's probably only going to display it on here in JPEG or GIF format making the Pantone values he's using almost useless unless like you said he plans to produce this professional on uncoated stock (like traditional business cards) or on a football helmet (where the coated values come in handy).

Bump