Do you like the color of that flower or bag? Now, thanks to the Pantone Connect app and the Pantone Color Match Card, you can identify their Pantone color code in seconds. Really convenient for graphic designers and color lovers, right?
The Pantone color matching system
All creative people know the Pantone brand because it is the most famous and popular color matching system in the world. It was invented in 1963 to solve the problem of complicated color matching in the printing industry. Soon after, Pantone became the easiest way to classify, communicate and match colors through the use of a fan-shaped color catalog. Each color, for each hue and shade, was assigned a number to classify it. Pantone literally wrote the book on color matching. And for nearly 60 years, the color matching system invented by the brand has become a staple not only for the design industry, but also for paint, fabric and plastics manufacturers. And since 2000, the Pantone Color Institute has created the “Pantone Color of the Year,” which is announced each year in early December and influences all sectors of society, from fashion to marketing to social media and even politics.
The new tool for determining the colors of the world around us
Today, Pantone renews itself again by launching its application that also includes a physical object to allow creative people to directly sample colors in real life. Because it is really easy to determine the color code on a computer screen, but on the other hand, it is more complicated to recreate the perfect hue of something real. Until now, to transcribe an inspiring color from the real world, you had to take a picture of it, analyze it, and digitally retrieve it. And the result was not always very satisfactory depending on the light and the quality of the image. Now, the process has become as easy as getting a digital color as the combination of the Pantone Connect app and the Pantone Color Match Card allows you to find the best Pantone color matches with physical colored surfaces, objects and media. The brand’s website also reports that under proper conditions, the Pantone Color Match Card returns a much more accurate color match than classic color extraction from an image.
But specifically, how does it work?
Pantone Color Match Card is an accessory the size of a credit card. This card printed with different Pantone colors serves as a sample and has an opening in the center. To match objects, colored media or surfaces to a Pantone hue, simply affix this card to the actual color you wish to acquire. The color is then captured using the phone and the app due to dual illumination (flash and ambient light). The smartphone can then accurately identify this color and the application then gives us a match with all current Pantone color systems (PMS, FHI, CMYK, Skintone Guide). The color can then be saved in a palette for use with future creations. You can also find the color on the various Adobe Creative Cloud software. This Pantone Color Match Card costs just under 17 Euros and works using the dedicated app available on IOS and Android, with both free and paid Pantone Connect accounts.
The phone, a device for capturing color
As far as Nick Bazarian, Pantone’s product manager for digital solutions, is concerned, “Designers were already taking pictures with their phones to capture Pantone colors from images, but the results were more challenging than accurate, due to various factors such as poor lighting or poor camera performance.” With the Color Match Card and the Pantone Connect app, the phone becomes “a true color capture device to create a more accurate match between the physical world and Pantone shades, as well as a workflow productivity tool to speed up the color communication process at a nominal cost.”
However, while this solution is a small revolution for creatives, it is not as original. The DIY chain Réno-Dépôt in Quebec had actually developed a similar app in 2017 to showcase the wide range of paint colors available. The Live Swatches app allowed users to match any color captured with the camera in real time with the colors in the SICO paint line and have fun discovering the as many as 1,800 references in the collection.
So there you have it, the new solution proposed by Pantone now allows you to connect reality and the digital world, and you can accurately capture the color of an object before your eyes or the color of that magnificent sunset you are witnessing, and find the match with Pantone shades. Now it’s your turn!