Typophile

CMYK and PMS

dmfreeman

What is the CMYK for PMS 662?

According to my Pantone color bridge it's 100C 88M 20K

According to my Pantone color bridge it’s 100C 88M 20K

Ouch, I read that as 622.

Interesting, in the Euroscale version it's 100/84/0/20.

Through QuarkXPress - it breaks down as Patty has put it 100C 88M 20K. But that is for Pantone Color Solid Coated and Uncoated. (Though the coated is a bright purple and the uncoated is a dusty blue.)

In the actual Pantone Color Formula Guide on how to make the color it reads: (this would have to be for spot color)
12 parts Pantone Blue 072 -70.6
,75 part Pantone Black -4.4 and...
4.5 parts Pantone Trans White -25

and that is the secret to why a PMS color that we see doesn't print looking like we thought it would. I checked with my Pantone Process Simulator - (great book shows you how each color prints on coated and uncoated stocks - and how far off the PMS guide really is) but sorry, it only goes to PMS 600.

If you are trying to get close in a print job to the swatch of 662 - you may want to add about 20y and up the k to 30 or 40 - (that from hubby, the retired color separator...)

P.S. Photoshop color picker says

100 cyan
90 magenta
20 yellow
16 black

Interesting, in the Euroscale version it’s 100/84/0/20.

Different environmental regulations lead to different ink formulae.

P.S. Photoshop color picker says

Never trust Adobe’s software conversions!

Those deep rich blues are one of the worst colors to accomplish in the CMYK gamut. They get muddy. I use Michael and Pat Rogondino's Process Color Manual to estimate PMS conversions. There are a few blues in the manual that will come close to that, none of them will look exactly right on screen. Each has a shift one way or the other, so a compromise has to be made. My first pick was 100c 100m 10y 0k. My next look was 100c 90m 0y 10k.

Are you going to a printer? Ask them. Almost every production source I use has extensively tested their equipment and know the best color estimation their machinery will achieve.

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