Pantone Chart

[ParanoidRobot18]

Hello

I'm looking to buy a pantone chart but if I don't want to spend that much money. I had a look on Amazon and I was wondering what is the difference between

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Process-Color-Manual-Combinations-Prepress/dp/0811827577/ref=pd_bbs_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198332071&sr=8-4

and this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Letraset-Pa...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198332071&sr=8-2

Does the book have the exact colours that I will get when I print out my pantone colours? I have seen the used the Letraset pantone charts before and I was wondering if the book would have the same colours. Is it less expensive because it's a book, or am I just going completely in the wrong direction?

Thanks

Edit:

I have a new 20inch iMac glossy screen. The glossy panel is better than most but being glossy its not as accurate as the earlier iMacs. I was wondering if its worth spending the money on a monitor calibrator such as this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pantone-Huey-Pro-Monitor-Calibrator/dp/customer-reviews/B000OFC1YY/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&customer-reviews.start=1&qid=1198332694&sr=8-3#customerReviews

Is it even worth it if the screen I am using is glossy?

 

[Blue Velvet]

The first is just a formula guide for CMYK colours and without Pantone's references.

Pantone Colour Bridge is the most useful single tool in their range for designers on a budget. Ideally, you'd have both the coated and uncoated versions and Pantone do a set that's cheaper than buying the two separately.

If you're in Europe incl. the UK, Colour Bridge Euro, with its EC codes is more suitable for Euroscale press setups.

 

[ParanoidRobot18]

Thanks for your response, very helpful

I had a look at this one, is it a good deal for the price? http://shop.colourconfidence.com/product.php?xProd=1026&jssCart=82e52020424f19c253c85d9a3a6e0219

I was wondering what you think about using a colour calibrator for a screen that's already glossy, is there much point? Will the colours always be more saturated even with the calibrator?

 

[Blue Velvet]

I had a look at this one, is it a good deal for the price?

Those are the old formula guides... Colour Bridge guides use the new formulations that were revised by Pantone just a few years ago to reflect contemporary stocks and press conditions, and in many cases, are quite different from the formula guide CMYK splits.

I was wondering what you think about using a colour calibrator for a screen that's already glossy, is there much point? Will the colours always be more saturated even with the calibrator?

I'm having problems impressing others on my team on the importance of a colour-calibrated workflow, so without recent experience, I think others may be more qualified to answer this question.

 

[LeviG]

As to pantone guides not so upto date on those but if you do buy, make sure they're current, seen plenty of 'last year' stock being sold still.

Personally I don't currently use a calibration device however I have matched my screen to my equipment (using eyesight so its close enough for now as I'm more screen based work at the moment), however I do intend to purchase one shortly. The spyder 3 takes my fancy although this is considerably more than the huey which to me just seems too cheap and small to be of any real benefit on a larger screen in a business environment. However if you only want to improve the screen for personal use then the huey pro is probably a worthwhile investment.

 

[ParanoidRobot18]

I'm just a student at the moment so I think I'll purchase them next year when I have a bit of money leftover. As for the colour calibrator I'm not so sure if it's worth it for the iMac glossy screen.

Thanks very much for the responses