7-Color Printing Process Equals Time and Cost Savings for Designers and Printers as an Alternative to Spot Color Printing  

CARLSTADT, N.J. – Pantone, an X-Rite company and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today introduced the PANTONE^® PLUS SERIES EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide, a new guide for brand owners, designers, prepress professionals and printers, developed in partnership with Esko, the global supplier of innovative printing solutions and packaging software, and Disc Graphics, an award-winning creative packaging printer. 

The PANTONE PLUS SERIES EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide is a visual, seven-color printing simulation of the 1,729 existing PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM^® Colors.  Printed with an extremely high-quality, seven-color printing process, the PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide uses existing Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black (CMYK) inks, plus commonly used Orange, Green and Violet (OGV) inks that ‘extend’ the color gamut significantly. Extended Gamut printing, also referred to as fixed color palette printing, is increasingly employed in the packaging industry as there are frequently multiple brand colors per project, but shorter run lengths – an environment where use of spot color can be time-consuming and costly. Pantone’s new guide will allow designers and printers to achieve approximately 90% of all PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM spot colors. 

“Pantone is excited to embrace the emergence of extended gamut printing in a rapidly changing printing and packaging landscape. In concert with industry partners Esko and Disc Graphics, we have developed an essential tool for designers to assess which printing method best enables them to achieve their brand colors, while recognizing the efficiency of process printing versus reliance on spot colors,” said Ron Potesky, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Pantone.

When developing the Extended Gamut Guide, Pantone utilized Esko’s Equinox software to accurately translate PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM spot colors into extended gamut formulations. These seven-color process recipes allow not only for closer spot color matching accuracy but also less downtime and faster turnaround times on press. This also amounts to savings for printers who can take advantage of a reduced ink inventory.

“Pantone is the international language of color and Esko was thrilled to work together on the PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide that was thoughtfully reproduced to fit the needs of the industry,” said Philippe Adam, Vice President of Marketing for Esko. “When designers specify colors using the PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide, they are increasing the flexibility around press time, turnaround time, budget and overall productivity in the printing and packaging process.”  

Disc Graphics, a recognized packaging industry leader, printed the PANTONEEXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide. “Having the opportunity to work with Pantone on its Extended Gamut Guide has been an extraordinary experience and an honor for Disc. This book will make it possible for any capable quality printer (with seven- or eight-color presses) currently running PMS colors to convert them to a standard seven-color process printing,” said Margaret Krumholz, President and Director of Disc Graphics. “For Disc, this will reduce the need for wash-ups and changeovers, streamlining our production and reducing both paper waste and time, simultaneously making us more efficient and our customers cost competitive -- a win/win.”  

Each page of the PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide has been replicated and numbered to mirror that of the current PANTONE PLUS Series Formula Guide, so a designer or printer can quickly and easily compare the original spot colors to the new extended gamut reproductions. 

The PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide includes:

• 1,729 seven-color process simulations of PANTONE Formula Guide Solid Coated Colors on coated stock
• Closest seven-color process match with sRGB* values
• Screen tint percentages displayed as viewed under D50 lighting (5000° K)
• Colors bleed off page edges for ease and accuracy when comparison checking
• Portable fan guide format
• Most commonly used, 100 lb. text-weight paper stock
• PANTONE COLOR MANAGER Software for updating PANTONE Colors in popular design applications
• Color locator index
• Each color identified with a distinct PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated (XGC) Number and/or name
  * the “s” in sRGB denotes Standard RGB

Pricing and Availability

The PANTONE EXTENDED GAMUT Coated Guide is available immediately and can be purchased at an MSRP of $145.00 from the Pantone website at www.pantone.com/extended-gamut and through Pantone resellers worldwide.