Getting Pantone swatches allows designers and companies to ensure color accuracy across different mediums. The Pantone Matching System is the worldwide standard for color communication across design, print production, manufacturing, digital design, and more. In this article, we’ll discuss what Pantone swatches are, why they’re important for color accuracy, and the different ways to get Pantone color swatches.
What are Pantone Swatches?
Pantone swatches are small cardboard sheets printed with solid Pantone colors. Each swatch shows the Pantone number and name of the color. For example, Pantone 123 C would be a blue color with the number 123 and suffix C to indicate it’s a solid coated swatch.
Pantone swatch books contain a range of swatches so designers can flip through and select the exact shades they need for a project. The Pantone Matching System has over 1,000 solid Pantone colors to choose from. Common swatch books include:
| Pantone Formula Guide | Coated and uncoated solid colors |
| Pantone Color Bridge | Coated and uncoated process colors |
| Pantone Pastels & Neons Guide | Pastel and neon solid colors |
| Pantone Metallics Guide | Metallic solid colors |
| Pantone Premium Metallics Guide | Premium metallic solid colors |
Pantone also offers fan decks, which are smaller, portable versions of the solid color swatch books. Fan decks make it easy to bring Pantone swatches to client meetings or keep them handy for quick color selection.
The point of Pantone swatches is to allow exact color selection and replication across different materials and finishes. Once a Pantone color is chosen, it can be used to produce accurate results across different substrates, inks, and digital displays. This ensures complete color consistency.
Why are Pantone Swatches Important?
Pantone swatches and the Pantone Matching System are important for several key reasons:
Color accuracy: Pantone swatches allow designers and printers to match colors perfectly across different materials and finishes. This ensures complete color accuracy from design concept to final production.
Color communication: The Pantone system gives everyone a common color language. Designers, clients, printers, and manufacturers can all reference Pantone numbers to ensure accurate color selection and reproduction.
Cross-media color consistency: Pantone Colors can be matched across print, digital, plastic, textile, and more. This allows unified color branding and accuracy across all media in a campaign or for a brand’s identity.
Industry standard: Pantone is universally recognized as the standard color system across multiple industries including graphic design, fashion and textiles, industrial design, architecture, and more. Specifying Pantone Colors ensures universally understood color expectations.
Precise spot color matching: The Pantone system allows printers to accurately match solid spot colors for branding needs. This is especially important for logos and brand colors that need precise visual identity reproduction.
Finished prototype checking: Designers and clients can check Pantone swatches against finished prototypes and products to ensure accurate color reproduction has been achieved in manufacturing.
Digital color accuracy: Pantone swatches can be measured and matched digitally using professional software tools like Adobe Creative Suite. This ensures accurate color representation digitally.
How to Get Pantone Swatches
There are a few different ways to get Pantone swatches depending on your needs:
Purchase swatch books – Individual swatch books or full collections can be purchased from the Pantone website, authorized Pantone dealers, design shops, or online retailers like Amazon. Prices range from $150-$600+ depending on the swatch book edition.
Purchase a Pantone Color Manager subscription – A Pantone Color Manager subscription provides access to digital Pantone swatches and tools for around $160/year. This allows designers to access Pantone Colors digitally across devices.
Request free physical swatches from Pantone – Pantone offers free sample swatches by mail for those interested in the Pantone system. You can request up to 10 free swatches on the Pantone website.
Request free digital swatches from Pantone – You can also request free digital Pantone swatches through the Pantone Color Manager platform without needing to purchase a subscription. This allows some digital access to Pantone Colors.
Use a Pantone Color Book/Fan Deck app – Apps like Pantone Studio display Pantone swatches digitally on mobile devices. The app subscription costs around $10/month but provides unlimited access.
Purchase individual swatches – Some online stores like Store Supply sell individual Pantone swatches a la carte, letting you purchase only specific swatch colors needed. Individual swatches cost around $12 each.
Use a Pantone Color Generator – Websites like EasyRGB and Color-Hex generate digital versions of Pantone swatches for free based on Pantone number entry. This can be helpful for mockups.
Getting physical or digital access to Pantone swatches gives designers an efficient way to integrate accurate Pantone matching into their workflow. Relying on the Pantone system ensures colors translate seamlessly across project stages for complete accuracy.
Choosing the Best Pantone Swatches
With all the different Pantone swatch books available, how do you choose? Here are some tips:
– Start with the Coated or Uncoated Formula Guide for general color selection of solids.
– Get the Color Bridge Guide if you need mostly CMYK process swatches.
– For pastels or bright colors, get the Pastels & Neons Guide.
– If using a lot of metallics, get the Metallics Guide.
– Fan decks are great portable options if you take swatches to meetings.
– Consider the Fashion, Home + Interiors system if designing textiles, home goods, etc.
– Get the Premium Metallics swatches for high-end packaging or branding.
– Purchase digitally if you want swatches accessible across devices.
– Request free swatches from Pantone first to sample colors.
– Buy individual swatches if you only need one or two specific colors.
Think about your project needs, budget, and existing workflow to decide which option is most practical. Having a broad spectrum of colors to choose from upfront gives the most flexibility. But you can start small and build your swatch library over time as needed.
Tips for Using Pantone Swatches
Once you have your Pantone swatches, here are some tips for effectively using them:
– Always communicate Pantone numbers along with swatch colors.
– Check swatches under different lighting conditions to test color accuracy.
– Compare on-screen colors to printed proofs to ensure digital matching.
– Use swatches early in the design process for color selection.
– Double check chosen colors against physical swatches before final production.
– Share physical swatches with clients during color selection meetings.
– Organize swatches in a storage book for easy access later.
– Refresh swatch books over time as colors may fade or change slightly.
– Register the swatch books you own with Pantone to stay up to date.
– Use swatches as a visual reference when communicating chosen colors verbally.
– Check product samples and prototypes against swatches to confirm color matching.
Following best practices for working with Pantone swatches helps streamline your workflow and ensures accurate color communication and reproduction on each project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about getting Pantone swatches:
Why are Pantone swatches so expensive?
Pantone invests extensive research and development into creating precise formulations for each color in the Pantone Matching System. Producing the high-quality swatch books also involves manufacturing and printing costs. As the standard global color system, Pantone can command premium pricing.
Can I find inexpensive Pantone swatches?
There are cheaper options for getting select Pantone swatches, like purchasing individual swatches or using free digital swatches. But for access to the full Pantone color range, the licensed swatch books will be expensive since Pantone controls production.
How many Pantone swatches are there?
The Pantone Matching System currently includes over 1,800 solid colors covering the spectrum of the color wheel. There are also special effect swatches like metallics and pastels. Total swatches number over 4,000 when including process swatches.
Do Pantone swatches fade over time?
Like any printed material, Pantone swatches can fade or discolor slightly over many years of light or chemical exposure. Pantone recommends replacing swatch books every 3-5 years if you need to maintain perfect color accuracy.
Can I make my own Pantone swatch book?
It’s possible to reproduce Pantone colors independently using the official formulation guides Pantone provides. But for accurate, licensed Pantone swatches produced to their quality standards, you need to purchase from Pantone or authorized dealers.
Conclusion
Pantone swatches bring reliable color accuracy to projects across industries. Whether you’re a graphic designer, printer, textile company, industrial designer, or architect, implementing Pantone matching during your workflow ensures colors translate beautifully at each stage.
While Pantone swatches involve a significant upfront investment, the payoff is precise color selection, communication, and reproduction. This prevents lost time and expenses from color mismatches later on. By providing a common global color language, Pantone makes the process of color selection, approval, and production much more streamlined.
