CARLSTADT, N.J., June 5, 2006 – Pantone, Inc., the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced that the PANTONE color bridge guide is now available on popular uncoated stock. The new guide shows how PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM Colors reproduce in CMYK on uncoated paper in a side-by-side comparison. Like the PANTONE color bridge guide coated, the uncoated guide reflects the same high quality color matches for increased accuracy and visual reference when specifying and matching colors. The appeal of uncoated paper has undergone a dramatic image change in the eyes of designers and printers, leading creative professionals to specify uncoated stock more regularly, particularly for color work. Uncoated paper has higher ink saturation than coated paper, which will alter a color’s appearance. A normally vibrant palette on coated paper will become more muted on uncoated paper, yielding a result desired by designers today. "Uncoated paper is increasingly specified for projects where color is a factor. Manufacturers have improved the shade, brightness, smoothness and overall quality of uncoated paper for color work, and this is contributing to the growing demand for uncoated stock," said Joseph Ranson, vice president of marketing, Printing Papers at xpedx, an International Paper company. "The smooth, silk and satin finish now available in uncoated paper has boosted its popularity," said Sabine Lenz, founder of PaperSpecs. "This combination of paper and finish facilitates strong ink permeation and crisp dot resolution, which produces the sharp printed images that designers have come to expect. Uncoated paper also conveys a softer, gentler look that corporations embrace." Although many PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM Colors can be successfully reproduced in four-color, some cannot because of the inherent limitations of process printing. The color bridge guide displays 1,089 PANTONE Colors in fan guide format on coated and now uncoated stock, alongside their closest four-color process match. The CMYK values are provided for each process color and RGB and HTML values are included for the solid colors. Including conversion formulas for multiple color spaces in a single guide makes it easier for designers to evaluate color choices when repurposing content for different media. A free color library download that includes the new CMYK screen tint builds for use in supported applications is available from www.pantone.com. PANTONE color bridge uncoated is printed on No. 1 grade, bright white, 90 pound uncoated paper. The stock is durable, which protects the guide when used in the field to accompany professionals to client presentations or on press runs. "The increasing popularity of uncoated stock creates new challenges for designers and printers because they haven’t had the tools to accurately predict how PANTONE Colors will reproduce in CMYK on uncoated paper until they are actually on press," said Doris Brown, vice president of marketing for Pantone, Inc. "PANTONE color bridge coated is one of our most versatile guides and customers have been asking for an uncoated stock version. Now customers have the visual reference they need to evaluate their color choices, on coated and uncoated paper, before the job is completed." Superior Color Consistency, Superior Results The reproduction of color to exact standards is crucial to designers, printers and clients. Most of the problems related to matching colors on the press are caused by the wide divergence of equipment, software, workflow and expertise of print service providers. The solid PANTONE Colors in the color bridge guide were printed on Pantone’s customized KBA printing press, which has been precision-engineered for improved color consistency. The press uses state-of-the-art printing technology with integrated color measurement controls to reproduce colors with even greater consistency and tighter tolerances. This new technology greatly improves this critical process. The color bridge guide was produced using a digital workflow based on ICC profiling. The spot to CMYK matching was first generated by software and then visually fine-tuned. Production of the guide is in compliance with ISO ink standard 2846-1, and where applicable, ISO 12647-2 for printing the halftone dots. Pricing and Availability PANTONE color bridge coated and PANTONE color bridge uncoated are each priced at $119 and available immediately. PANTONE color bridge coated and uncoated are also available bundled as a two-guide set for a value price of $179. The guides can be purchased from www.pantone.com and authorized Pantone distributors.