Spot Colors

In some programs, such as Adobe Illustrator, it is possible to choose “spot colors”. Printing a true spot color requires mixing various liquid inks together and printing the pre-mixed ink. Digital printing “mixes” dots of tiny colors to approximate the look of a spot color. The process is extremely accurate for most spot colors, but it is not perfect so a physical proof is recommended for color sensitive jobs.

Pantone® Colors: Pantone colors are the industry standard and the most common type of spot color. Each color has a number as it’s Pantone “name”. For example, Pantone 286 C is a specific deep indigo blue. Printers typically have Pantone Color books with over 1,000 color choices to help customers define specific colors. Whenever possible, specify Pantone Coated (C) colors.

Color Matching: Customers frequently send us their product or a piece of the product to color match at an additional fee. The process often requires hours of extra press time with multiple rounds of printing and doming to create the closest match under controlled lighting conditions. You can avoid the inconvenience of sending products by specifying a Pantone number for us to match.

If your job is color critical, you should order a physical proof see exactly how the finished color will look when do