Editor's Note:  See commentary from WhatTheyThink's Cary Sherburne

Carlstadt, N.J. – Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced the availability of the PANTONE PLUS SERIES (see separate release) with support from major industry technology providers including Adobe, Agfa Graphics, Canon, EFITM, Epson, Esko, Heidelberg, Quark and Xerox.

A modern evolution of the PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM, the PANTONE PLUS SERIES provides designers and printers with new features and capabilities to fulfill their creative desires. Enhancements include the chromatic arrangement of colors for more intuitive selection, an expanded palette of spot colors, the addition of new premium metallics and a broader range of neons.

Pantone has been working with partners across industries to provide support for the PLUS SERIES and ensure its integration with existing workflows – including software applications, RIPs, proofing systems and digital color output devices. Pantone continues to add new industry partners to this growing list of supporters.

Software, RIPs and Workflow Solutions:
Adobe Systems Incorporated, Agfa Corporation, Bodoni Systems Ltd, CGS Publishing Technologies International GmbH, Corel Corporation, Electronics for Imaging, Inc. (EFI), Esko N.V., Global GraphicsTM Software Ltd, GMC Software Technology, GMG GmbH & Co., Heidelberg, Océ, Onyx Graphics, Inc. and Quark Inc. 

Color Output Devices:
Canon Inc., Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, InfoPrint Solutions Company, Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc., Kyocera Mita America, Inc., RicohTM Company, Ltd, Seiko Epson Corporation, Sharp Electronics Corporation and Xerox Corporation.

Every PLUS SERIES purchase includes COLOR MANAGER Software free-of-charge upon registration. The public beta version of COLOR MANAGER will be available in June 2010 to registered users. PANTONE PLUS Digital Libraries for Adobe and Quark will also be available in June 2010 free-of-charge to anyone wanting to update their favorite software with the new PLUS SERIES colors. 

Industry Support
"We're inspired by the designer's passion for perfection," said Tim Banister, general manager for Desktop Technology at Quark Inc. "By providing support for the new color offerings in the PANTONE PLUS SERIES, Quark is helping designers stay current, achieve superior results and make color-critical decisions confidently and accurately."

"The new PANTONE PLUS SERIES is poised to become the most relevant spot color system for the graphic arts market, and EFI is pleased to offer PANTONE PLUS support in our products," said Stefan Spiegel, general manager of Graphic Arts Solutions at EFI. "As the market leader in proofing and wide-format production printing, EFI always ensures its customers benefit from the latest technology developments."

"At Epson, we are proud to lead the inkjet printing industry in accurately reproducing a wide range of colors," said Munenori Ando, general manager of Large Format Printing Sales and Marketing at Seiko Epson Corporation. "We truly believe that by supporting Pantone's new color standard we will provide even greater levels of satisfaction to professionals working in the imaging and printing fields."

"As long-standing partners of Pantone, EskoArtwork is committed to supporting PANTONE PLUS in its Suite 10 family of prepress software applications for packaging, commercial print and display," said Jan De Roeck, director, Solution Management at EskoArtwork. "The EskoArtwork Color Engine and interactive applications have always used PANTONE Colors as a common means for color communication across the packaging and print supply chain. With support for PANTONE PLUS, EskoArtwork confirms once more its strategy of embracing industry standards. PANTONE PLUS support will be available in a future release of Suite 10."