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The Pantone Color Matching System (PMS) and Its Use In Printing

2025-12-01

The Pantone Matching System (PMS) is a global leader in colour language and design.

It is a standardised colour matching system operated by Pantone Inc.

Pantone has successfully established it as the universal language of colour by naming almost every shade.

Today, printing and packaging is done using this language on a global scale.

1. So, what exactly is Pantone?

PMS is a standardised colour matching system based on a particular type of colour, coded by a number system also referred to as 'Pantone numbers'.

PMS color guide

Although the printing industry is the most popular sector for PMS, it is also widely used in the manufacture of plastics, clothing, fabrics and paint.

The most popular guide is the PMS colour matching system, used by designers, manufacturers, clients, artists and printers.

This system has gained popularity due to its precision in colour recognition, quality control, and precise design specifications.

2. The different palettes

There are several PMS colour palettes, such as:

Pantone Solid Palette

  • Process palette
  • Textile palette
  • Plastic Palette
  • Goe palette

These various palettes contain thousands of colours and tones, which are applied differently depending on the industry.

PMS printing

Pantone effectively dictates how a particular colour should appear, ensuring that it is the correct shade of magenta, cyan, red or yellow.

The most popular Pantone colour palette is Pantone Solid Colors.

With slightly over 1,100 distinct colours, it is mostly used in print, graphics, and publishing.

It is the palette most likely to be found on colour printers and guarantees correct colour matches.

Pantone Color Matching

3. Advantages of Pantone colours

It is the world's most popular colour system and has a higher chance of being recognised and accepted by industries than other colour systems.

It also offers an extremely wide range of tones with highly accurate colour matching.

No other system has the level of detail and precision of PMS.

This makes it perfect for designing branded packaging, as it enables the creation of a homogeneous colour scheme.

4. Pantone versus CMYK

CMYK colours consist of just four colours: cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These colours are normally printed and then overprinted.

PMS is a set of colours that does not depict any particular model and can print a wider variety of colours than is possible with CMYK.

Printing in CMYK can produce significantly greater variation and cannot produce precise or dependable colour output.

One factor that has made PMS a global standard is its consistent colour reproduction.

It is expected that PMS will remain the worldwide standard for printing in the foreseeable future.

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