Pantone Swatch Books
For someone unfamiliar with Pantone, deciding which guide or book to buy can be overwhelming.
Here's what you need to know about these swatch books:
Fan-Guides
Like the paint fanguides you can pickup at the home improvement store, the fan-guides show color stripes across the page, of each color, with the formula printed beside each color. There are holes drilled in each page, and a post goest through each page, so you can fan out the pages, and select colors. Printed on either coated, uncoated, or matte finish stock, guides can be purchased separately or in sets. More info / Order here.
Binders / Chips
These swatch books come in 3-ring binders with pages of colors, seven colors per page. The chips are little tear-off swatches of color. This format is ideal for providing samples with your artwork or digital files so that clients can get a more accurate picture of how the printed colors in their project will appear. Very hand for making sure that the printer or producer knows exactly what color you want. More info / Order here.
Coated / Uncoated / Matte Stocks
Swatch Files
These swatch books come in 3-ring binders, with 2"X2" cotton fabric swatches loosed attached to the pages.
They are only available in the Pantone for Fashion and Home palette. More Info / Order Here
Pantone Palettes
Pantone uses a number of unique coding schemes, with prefixes and suffixes, to identify which palette a color is from. They are as follows:
Pantone solid colors
The Pantone solid palette is the basis for the Pantone Matching System.
Pantone Solid colors are identified by three or four digit numbers, and suffixes. They are used by Graphics and Print professionals, and are the most common Pantone palette. For example, Pantone 199 Red can be identified as:
Color Suffix
Pantone 199C C= Coated Paper
Pantone 199U U= Uncoated Paper
Pantone 199M M=Matte Paper
Pantone 199CV CV= Computer Video
Pantone 199CVU CVU= Computer Video Uncoated Paper
Pantone 199CVC CVC=C omputer Video Coated Paper
Pantone process colors
Pantone process colors are identified by a DS precusor, one to three digits,a dash, a single digit, and then a suffix. Pantone process colors are created using CMYK blends, and are used by designers, printers and publishers.For example, Pantone DS-97-1C
Color Prefix Suffix
Pantone DS-97-1C DS= Digital Screen C= Coated Paper
Pantone textile colors
The Pantone for Fashion and Home colors are identified by two digits, followed by a dash, four digits, and then a suffix. They also have a name, as a secondary identifier.Pantone for Fashion and Home colors are available in fan guide format,
Fashion and Home was formerly known as the Textile palette, and is used by fashion, textile, and apparel designers and manufacturers worldwide. For example Pantone 19-2430 could be identified as follows:
Color Color Name Suffix
Pantone 19-2430 TP Purple Potion TP= Textile Paper (Old suffix, replaced by TPX)
Pantone 19-2430 TPX Purple Potion TPX= Textile Paper eXtended
Pantone 19-2430 TC Purple Potion TC= Textile Cotton