On August 31, pre-installed Pantone Color Books were phased out of Adobe applications. While users rely on Pantone color options in their Adobe products, Pantone and Adobe are separate companies, which has presented issues in providing the most up-to-date Pantone services. Pantone libraries had become outdated with missing colors and inaccurate information.
The proprietary color design company says that purchasing Pantone Connect is the solution that will allow Adobe users to access all 15,000 Pantone colors.
What Impact Will The Phase Out Have?
The following Pantone Color Books will not be immediately affected by the change and will remain in the 2022 versions of Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop:
- PANTONE CMYK Coated
- PANTONE CMYK Uncoated
- PANTONE Metallics Coated
Existing documents containing Pantone References will keep those color identities.
Adobe Photoshop will be affected as follows:
- Photoshop files using swatches from Pantone Color Books, when opened, placed or edited in releases prior to August 2022, will continue to function as they did in those releases.
- Photoshop files with spot channels where the color used is from a non-available Color Book will open with a color rendering error.
- When the spot channels have color from non-available Pantone Color Books, the information is fetched from those Color Book for appropriate rendering. If the color is not fetched due to absence of parent Color Books, such spot channels will render in black/gray.
- The color details are preserved, so files will continue to support production workflows, but will display as gray/black when opening, placing or editing the file in Photoshop.
Adobe Illustrator will be affected as follows:
- Illustrator files having swatches from Pantone Color Books, when opened or placed in previous or future releases, will continue to function without any impact.
- When Illustrator files have place-linked Photoshop files that have spot channels, and such spot channels have colors from Color Books that are no longer available, placed Photoshop content will render gray/black in Illustrator.
InDesign files having swatches from Pantone Color Books, when opened or placed, in previous or future releases, will continue to function without any impact. When InDesign files contain Photoshop files that have spot channels and such spot channels have colors from Color Books that are no longer available, placed Photoshop content will render gray/black in InDesign.
Pantone Connect Can Be The Solution
All 15,000 Pantone colors and color design tools are available through Pantone Connect and will negate any of the above impacts of the phase out.
Purchasing a Pantone Connect subscription ensures consistency and accuracy with Pantone’s offerings. The platform also allows for sharing and collaborating with team members and clients, supports a remote work environment and is accessible at all times through its app.
Features include:
- Search any colors.
- Pick any colors visually.
- Measure any colors in the physical world.
- Convert RGB/CMYK/HEX/L*a*b* data to closes Pantone Color.
- See Color Data, Color Psychology and Cross Reference against all Pantone Libraries.
- Build mood boards with Color Story.
- Accessibility support for color blindness.
- Compare color choices with Light & Dark Simulations.
- Share Palettes with anyone.
- Change and update shared palette in real-time.
- Trend and palette exploration
Pantone Connect is available through connect.pantone.com, IOS/Android mobile application or Adobe Extension in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.
Higher pricing for a Pantone Connect subscription will go into effect September 15, so there is still time to take advantage of lower pricing.
Let PPAI Help You
Any interested end users looking to purchase a subscription to Pantone Connect should be directed here.
Pantone is a PPAI Affinity Partner, offering discounts on most products to the Association’s members. Any larger business accounts should reach out to shop@ppai.org in order to get in touch with PPAI’s Pantone contact.
