In process printing, whether offset, flexo, or even digital, the standard for many years has been CMYK. To achieve many brand colors, however, printers have required the use of spot color inks specially formulated to deliver accurate brand color. Using spot inks, while an accepted approach, can also result in higher costs – the cost of the ink itself; labor involved with mixing, storing and managing those inks; extra makeready time (and extra plates for spot colors), wash-up between jobs. Wouldn’t it be easier to be able to achieve all or most of the target colors using a fixed set of inks? Job changeover would be faster; ink inventories reduced; fewer plates required – these are just a few of the benefits.

In 2015, Pantone released the PLUS SERIES EXTENDED GAMUT Coated guide that features simulations of 1,729 PLUS SERIES FORMULA GUIDE colors using a seven-color printing process – although if you examine the guide closely, no color requires more than three inks to achieve. Pantone claims that by adding orange, green and violet to the traditional CMYK inks, you can achieve an acceptable visual match for approximately 90% of the solid colors in the PANTONE Matching System. This went a long way toward standardizing formulations for Pantone colors using a seven-ink set.

Then in 2016, Idealliance introduced XCMYK, a totally different approach the organization referred to as expanded gamut. Idealliance’s Tim Baechle explains it in this video.