Spot colors what they are for and what they are

You have certainly already seen at least once those color swatches with all the colours , i.e. the well-classified spot colours, but if you mostly deal with the digital environment , perhaps you never thought they could be a working tool even for those who do graphic design.

On the contrary , spot colors are one of the fundamental means of color management if you work on projects intended for print.

Pantone is best known for classifying these colors and manufacturing the inks they are printed with. Surely you know the brand and its importance also communication level.

But it is, in fact, only one of the companies that deal with this sector. So to go and understand what we are talking about when we refer to spot colors and above all how they can help you in managing your projects, let's start with the basics. Follow me!

What does "spot colors" mean

If you've already read our articles on RGB , CMYK color modes and the characteristics that distinguish them , you will immediately notice a difference.

In fact, when we refer to spot colors, we don't use an acronym and we don't refer to basic colors. In fact, these are completely different methods of obtaining color.

In English there is a name to identify the two categories: ‌ flat colors are called spot colors , while CMYK‌ and RGB are process colors .

In fact, we have seen how when we create a color with both three-color and four-color processes , we act on a limited number of basic colors (precisely two or three) and vary their respective values, or percentages.

It is therefore about colors that arise from a process, as the English word says.

In particular for the CMYK method this process, simulated digitally, becomes real in the printing phase, when the desired shade is created by the juxtaposition of cyan, yellow, magenta and black ink dots, which combined in different percentages return the required color .

Flat colors, on the other hand, are defined as "spot colors" because what is printed is a pre-mixed ink, identified by a code.

Both you in creating your project and the printer in transferring it to paper, therefore, you will simply choose which is the right color for the project within the catalog proposed by the industries that produce these colors.

Spot colors: additive or subtractive synthesis?

Since we've already explored this for the other color modes, I think it's important to answer this question for spot colors as well.

These colors are designed for printing , or for painting in general, so they are pigments ;‌ the pigment color , or color as matter, follows the mechanism of subtractive synthesis .

Also in the case of flat colors, therefore, when the colors mix, the brightness decreases .

What is the difference, then, between these tints and the CMYK method?‌ Let's go see it

Spot colors or CMYK?

Spot colors , compared to colors obtained with the CMYK method, have a great advantage. Their composition , and therefore also their luminosity, is regulated and managed in industries capable of correcting the rather stringent limits of the four-colour process.

For this reason, in spot color catalogs we find many colors that do not exist in the CMYK gamut , even those colors which, we have said, are very difficult to obtain in printing, such as fluorescent colors , or gold and silver effects .

An important note:‌ if in a project we have foreseen some colors that can easily be obtained in CMYK and perhaps one or two that we would like to create with spot colors, it is possible to combine the two methods , both within graphics programs and in printing stage.

So it might seem that the choice of spot colors for a print project is the absolute choice. In reality, the matter is a little more complicated.

Advantages and disadvantages of spot colors

Using spot colors in a project intended for printing certainly has great advantages :

• Wider color range :‌ as we have already said, in the spot color catalogs you will find many more colors than in the CMYK gamut, you can obtain particular effects and super-bright colours.
• Loyalty to the project : since the inks are made by a reference company always following the same composition there is (almost) no risk that the print result will give you nasty surprises.
• The quality :‌ these are excellent quality inks that guarantee excellent yield and great uniformity of results.

In the face of these undoubted advantages, however, you must consider that even spot colors have some limits

• The cost :‌ this is an element that can have a double reading. In fact, if the project you are working on involves the use of only one color , then printing with spot colors could also be convenient . But if you plan to use several colors, consider that, at least in offset printing, several plates will have to be made , one for each colour. This can lead to printing costs going up, even a lot. Not only that, spot color inks, by themselves, are quite expensive.
• Is the yield really always the same? Not as much as it might seem. Even if the most famous manufacturers of flat colors, such as Pantone, have different lines for matt or coated papers (in the Pantone system indicated as Uncoated and Coated), the yield can vary according to the type of paper and the machinery used for printing

Leading manufacturers of spot color inks

As we have already said, since spot colors are real industrial products, the most common ranges are created by companies that produce inks and paints.

Pantone

It goes without saying that the most famous is undoubtedly Pantone . Success certainly linked to some interesting characteristics. For example, constant research means that the range of available colors expands year after year, following the main trends of contemporary design, but also in some way dictating or anticipating them.

In addition, Pantone provides many tools for those who work with colors:‌ for example Pantone Connect , an application developed to work in synergy with the Adobe Creative Cloud tools.

The Pantone color numbering system is called PMS, which means Pantone Matching System , and includes both solid and process colors.

Adobe Illustrator , InDesign and Photoshop include Pantone Plus Series® color guides ; in Illustrator you will find 10 standard color libraries, called "color guides", which can be used by selecting the "spot colors" color swatches.

Other spot color manufacturers

Pantone and spot colors are NOT synonymous: Pantone is just a very famous company that produces spot colors. But there are others, mostly representative of contexts other than the United States. Let's see them.

As far as Europe is concerned, probably the best known company is the German HKS , while for Asia we can mention DIC and Toyo Inc .

In the Creative Cloud you can find all these color libraries , especially in both Illustrator and Indesign the libraries are available

• Pantone
• HKS extension
• Trumatch
• FOCOLTONE
• DEC
• TOYO

Conclusions

Knowing how to make the most of spot colors within your graphic projects intended for print allows you to obtain richer results and not have to give up on the color you had in mind. Choosing the most suitable color method is one of the many components that make the difference in a product that wants to be truly professional.