Pantone colors not displaying correctly

[gwh]

Hi everyone,

I put in some CMYK values to create a navy color in Illustrator:

C: 100
M: 70
Y: 0
K: 40

I got the breakup from a pantone process guide booklet, but the color onscreen looks nothing like the printed swatch (see attached screenshot).

Has anyone else had this problem? Is it a known problem with an iMac bought early 2008?

Appreciate any advice.

 

[slicecom]

Have you calibrated your screen? Are you using the correct colour profile?

It will never look identical to the swatch, but it doesn't have to. That's the whole point of Pantone. You know what colour it will be when printed.

 

[gwh]

Thanks for the reply,

Yeah I calibrated it a couple of years ago. I know you're supposed to do it regularly but surely there shouldn't be that much difference between the print and screen versions. Plus also I tried clicking on other profiles that came with the mac and they all display it pretty much the same.

I need to use the color for onscreen also which is why I can't settle for the current display. I thought I read somewhere that there was some problems with the screen display of this particular model.

I wondered if anyone could plug in those values into Illustrator and check it against a pantone guide to see if it's the same color?

 

[elberggreno]

Im sorry, but you're a bit lost here.

I dont even know where to start.

Pantone is a color-system independent of others. Basically the CMYK values you get from the pantone-chart isn't even going to match up to the particular pantone color in print.

I'm just going to write down some points for you to consider and to research upon before doing anything else.

* Is the pantone chart older than 6months, or has it been exposed to sunlight?
* Is the color and CMYK conversion numbers you are checking against for coated or uncoated paper?
* What kind of print will the endproduct be? Offset-printing, digital printing?
* What kind of icc-profile does your printer use?
* Did you calibrate your screen with a photo-spectrometer? If so against what Kelvin? 6500? 5000?
* Did you calibrate your screen within the last 2 weeks?
* Have you set up your system and workflow to use the correct color settings?
* Do you have photoshop/illustrator set to preview proof colors?
* What kind of ambient lighting do you have in the room? Do you use a hood for your screen?

I could go on, if you are unsure about any of the points above, no the color wont match, and it has nothing to do with your particular imac (although one could argue that a matte screen does give a more color accurate preview for print).

Just use the correct values (in cmyk or preferably the pantone-color in the illustrator color palette in your CS application) and use the pantone book as a reference (thats whats its for). Make sure your color settings and ICC profiles match and recalibrate your screen against 5000 kelvin (which is the temperature the sun gives off) for print work.

Good luck.

 

[Lordedmond]

would it be because one (the swatch ) in reflective light is governed by the colour of the light source you are viewing it with

and the screen is transmitted light ?

 

[gwh]

elberggreno: I take your point. I think I'll forget trying to match it!

Thanks