Box Printing Magic
A Rose By Any Other Name
would smell as sweet. A line from Romeo and Juliet? Could be, but if you’re talking about full color printing, also known as process printing, four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, black – or in printer speak, “CMYK”), can generate just about every color under the rainbow. In fact, this is the way most printing is done, from newspapers and magazines to printed brochures and flyers, and even your product packaging! These primary colors are printed in a dot mosaic in just the right proportions to fool the eye into thinking there are more colors present than actually are. Look closely at a printed image next time. If it’s a process printed image, you’ll see the dots! Now that’s sweet!
In process printing you can use an unlimited number of colors and shades in your design, as long as they are mixed from the four primary colors (CMYK) on the press. Don't worry - software handles the CMYK magic, you just have to worry about design. This is the way all printed box packaging is produced. However, as magical as CMYK printing is, there are limitations. You remember mixing water color paints as a child, you can create a lot of colors this way. But try mixing a metallic color, say gold, from your water color kit- it can’t be done!
A downside of CMYK printing is the colors tend to be a bit flat, and colors can drift a small amount through the print run; it’s a small price to pay given the number of colors it can emulate. However, if you need a bit more vibrancy and consistency to your print, then you’ll want to add PMS colors.
Pantone Matching System (PMS)
Pantone is a printing ink manufacturer. Unlike CMYK printing where colors are derived from the four primary colors, Pantone has created a system of proprietary inks they publish in color swatch books (see above), that are made available to printers. The colors are generally more vibrant, and since inks are mixed by formula and don’t rely on the CMYK process, the colors remain consistent throughout the print run. PMS colors are typically used to enhance certain areas of the printed piece.
What do PMS colors offer?
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Ink colors are quite vibrant, usually much more so than can be achieved with standard four color process.
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Although process printing can duplicate PMS colors, the color tone ranges from poor to adequate, and the colors are usually quite flat, lacking vibrancy.
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Special colors, such as metallics (gold, silver, copper, etc.) and neons, can only be achieved with PMS colors.
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Because PMS colors are mixed according to a universal formula, the colors are the same shade regardless of where they are mixed. You can be guaranteed the color you see in the swatch book is the color you’ll see on your product package.
So, if you want to add a bit of pop to your custom printed packaging, think about adding a PMS color to the mix.