CORPORATE OVERVIEW
Pantone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite, Incorporated, is the world-renowned authority on color. For more than 45 years, Pantone has been inspiring design professionals with products, services and leading technology for the colorful exploration and expression of creativity.
In 1963, Lawrence Herbert, Pantone's founder, created an innovative system for identifying, matching and communicating colors to solve the problems associated with producing accurate color matches in the graphic arts community. His insight that the spectrum is seen and interpreted differently by each individual led to the innovation of the PANTONE® MATCHING SYSTEM®, a book of standardized color in fan format.
Pantone has since expanded its color matching system concept to other color-critical industries, including digital technology, fashion, home, plastics, architecture and contract interiors, and paint. Today, the PANTONE Name is known worldwide as the standard language for accurate color communication, from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer, across a variety of industries. Pantone continues to develop color communication and inspirational tools, and aggressively adopts new digital technology to address the color needs of the creative community everywhere.
Pantone was acquired by X-Rite, Incorporated in October 2007.
MARKETS & PRODUCTS
Each year, innumerable products and services are sold by Pantone and its hundreds of licensees in over 100 countries in the graphic arts, fashion, home, interior, plastics, architectural, paint, industrial design and consumer markets.
Graphic Arts – Printing, Publishing & Packaging
The PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM is the definitive international reference for selecting, specifying, matching and controlling ink colors. The PANTONE FORMULA GUIDE, a three-guide set consisting of 1,114 solid PANTONE Colors on coated, uncoated and matte stock, shows corresponding printing ink formulas for each color, and the three-book set of SOLID CHIPS provides coated, uncoated and matte perforated tear-out chips that can be used for quality control.
The digitally created PANTONE 4-COLOR PROCESS GUIDES provide a comprehensive palette of more than 3,000 colors achievable in four-color (CMYK) process printing. The PANTONE COLOR BRIDGE® GUIDES coated and uncoated compare solid PANTONE Colors to their closest possible match in CMYK four-color process that can be achieved on a computer monitor, output device or printing press. Other PANTONE Color Reference Guides for the graphic arts include METALLIC, PASTEL and TINTS.
The PANTONE HEXACHROME® Color System, a patented, breakthrough six-color ultra high quality printing process, reproduces a dynamic range of more brilliant continuous-tone images and simulates brighter, more vivid colors than standard four-color process printing. The HEXACHROME® process is supported by industry leaders such as Adobe, Quark, Kodak Polychrome, Agfa, DuPont, Polaroid and Fuji.
In September 2007, the PANTONE Goe™ System was unveiled with 2,058 new, solid PANTONE Colors to inspire creativity and fulfill the requirements of the fast-changing, technologically advancing graphic arts industry. In addition to exciting new colors, the System includes modern tools and interactive software to drive collaboration and improve versatility in an increasingly global, multimedia environment.
The PANTONE Goe System includes: the PANTONE GoeGuide™, 2,058 Goe Colors presented in a fan-format and identified with a unique number along with ink mixing formulas and sRGB values; PANTONE GoeSticks™, a two-volume set of adhesive-backed color chips; and myPANTONE TM Palettes software for creating color palettes that can be imported into applications, shared among coworkers and clients, and archived for future reference.
Fashion & Home
The PANTONE FASHION + HOME Color System is a vital tool for designers in the apparel, home furnishings and interior design industries for selecting and specifying color used in the manufacture of textiles and fashion. The System – consisting of 1,925 colors in cotton or paper format – is ideal for assembling creative palettes and conceptual color schemes, and for providing color communication and control in the manufacturing process.
Through a partnership with Clariant International, one of the world’s largest textile colorant and chemical producers, the PANTONE SMART Color Swatch Card System enables designers and manufacturers to expedite the color development cycle efficiently and accurately, dramatically increasing speed-to-market and reducing costs.
The PANTONE VIEW Colour Planner is a biannual trend forecasting tool that offers seasonal color direction and inspiration 24 months in advance for multiple usages, including menswear, women’s wear, activewear, cosmetics and industrial design. Introduced in 2004, PANTONE VIEW Home is a comprehensive forecasting tool for the home furnishings industry.
Paint
In 2006, Pantone partnered with Fine Paints of Europe to create PANTONE PAINTS, a line of premium-quality Dutch paint, empowering designers and consumers with the ability to match 3,000 PANTONE Colors in paint.
Plastics
The PANTONE PLASTICS Color System™ allows designers, manufacturers and suppliers who work with plastics to select, specify, control and manufacture hundreds of colors through opaque and transparent plastic color chips in the system. It offers a comprehensive color range that is reproducible in plastics.
Color Cue® 2
PANTONE Color Cue 2 is a portable, affordable, spectro-colorimeter preprogrammed with PANTONE Color data. It instantly identifies the closest PANTONE Color of any flat surface, empowering designers across the graphic arts, fashion, home, architecture and interior design industries to identify color inspirations and match them to PANTONE Colors wherever the go.
With approximately 9,000 PANTONE Colors in a single, handheld device, Color Cue 2 allows users to toggle across multiple PANTONE Libraries and move effortlessly from color inspiration to realization, regardless of the medium. Color Cue 2 also records the last 30 colors measured for later reference.
Software in Color Cue 2 enables designers to translate PANTONE Colors for use in different color spaces and popular image editing software, as well as accurately specify and communicate color for four-color process and Hexachrome® printing and the Web.
Retail
In 2001, Pantone launched its PANTONE TheRightColor® division. By providing a universal and precise color language along with technology solutions, TheRightColor focuses on developing solutions and technologies that enable retailers to build a color standard infrastructure to improve the consumer’s shopping experience and impact the vendor’s bottom line across all distribution channels. TheRightColor solutions are based on the globally accepted PANTONE Textile Color System.
TheRightColor solutions enable retailers to reduce the number of returns due to inaccurate color representation, as well as improve inventory tracking and replenishment strategies. In addition, the ability to monitor customer color preferences enables upselling and cross-selling, allowing the retailer to sell more product per visit. Meanwhile, the use of PANTONE Color codes empowers the customer to more confidently coordinate and complement merchandise. More information is available at www.therightcolor.com.
Consumer
PANTONE UNIVERSE is a collection of lifestyle products based on fashion color trends for the consumer. The collection, consisting of tabletop, stationery items, travel gear, accessories and rainwear, combines timeless designs and modern materials with current trend colors. More information is available at www.pantoneuniverse.com.
The PANTONE Shopping Color Guide lets shoppers take the expertise and precision of the PANTONE Name wherever they go. Based on the PANTONE Textile Color System, the PANTONE Shopping Color Guide incorporates 1,757 colors into an easy-to-use fan guide that helps shoppers coordinate colors for every aspect of their shopping experience – from clothing to accessories to items for the home.
Color Management
In 2001, Pantone began marketing affordable digital color control solutions to graphic artists, designers, photographers and printers. Delivering an unparalleled level of on-screen accuracy, 2004 saw the introduction of two monitor calibration solutions: one for consumers and photo hobbyists, the other for professionals.
Continuing its commitment to the development of accessible color control solutions, Pantone entered the inkjet market in 2003 with PANTONE ColorVANTAGE®, a family of premium inkjet products including inks, papers and specially developed printer profiles. The products are designed for applications where the most accurate color reproduction and the widest possible range of color are required.
In January 2006, Pantone announced a strategic partnership with GretagMacbeth (now X-Rite Incorporated) to make color management more accessible for a wide variety of users from consumers to professionals. PANTONE huey™, an easy-to-use, affordable monitor calibration device, is a true breakthrough in terms of form, function and usability, and is the first device to continually adjust for ambient light conditions. PANTONE huey™PRO provides professionals and photo enthusiasts with the same functionality as huey, plus multiple monitor calibration and customizable profiles.
Software
A longtime pioneer in the realm of digital technology, Pantone offers a variety of software products that accurately translate PANTONE Colors for use by graphic designers, pre-press professionals, business users, Web developers and Internet surfers.
- PANTONE OfficeColor Assistant™ adds the impact of PANTONE Colors to reports, proposals and presentations created in Microsoft® PowerPoint®, Word and Excel.
- PANTONE COLORIST is a Web utility that makes it easy for Web authors and graphic designers to select PANTONE MATCHING SYSTEM Colors from within popular applications that do not already incorporate PANTONE Libraries. It includes InspireME, a Web utility that offers an array of predefined color schemes created by Leatrice Eiseman, America’s foremost color psychologist.
- The PANTONE HEXACHROME Color System is supported by PANTONE HexWare® plug-ins for Adobe® Photoshop® and Adobe Illustrator®.
Lights and Scales
PANTONE Color Viewing Lights allow the user to preview color choices in different lighting conditions.
PANTONE formula scales are pre-programmed with formulas for all PANTONE Colors, including PASTELS and METALLICS, and are available in various sizes for small, medium and large print shops.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT LABS
Pantone supports its color communication systems with industry-specific research and testing labs.
- Ink Lab scientists develop new formulas to update PANTONE Color palettes and test licensee samples for quality control.
- Textile Lab technicians verify formulas for color reproduction, and dye and prepare fabric for the PANTONE FASHION + HOME swatch books. They also provide custom color dying services to textile clients.
- Advanced Color Technology experts develop core technology and digital solutions for the accurate viewing and printing of PANTONE Colors. The department provides licensed technology to software and color output device manufacturers such as Adobe, Hewlett-Packard, Xerox, Quark and Microsoft to ensure the best possible representation of PANTONE Colors.
CUSTOM COLOR SERVICES
PANTONE Custom Color Services provide custom color standards for corporate managers and art directors in fashion, home, contract design, paint, beauty, automotive, sports and pharmaceutical – any industry requiring color accuracy.
PANTONE Custom Color Services also provides products to specify corporate identity, product color and packaging standards, including color standards showing one or more PANTONE Colors or custom colors on paper, cotton or custom substrates, as well as the corresponding CMYK, HTML and RGB values.
PANTONE COLOR INSTITUTE®
The Pantone Color Institute is a color research and information center that shares its color expertise with professionals in a variety of industries including fashion, commercial/industrial, contract and interior design, graphic arts, advertising, film and education. Recognized throughout the world as the leading source of color information, the Institute is used as a resource by the world’s most influential media.
Through the Pantone Color Institute, Pantone continues to study how color influences human thought processes, emotions and physical reactions, furthering its commitment to providing professionals with a greater understanding of color and to help them utilize color more effectively. Leatrice Eiseman, America’s leading color expert, is the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.
CONSULTING SERVICES
The Pantone COLORTEAMSM offers expert color consulting services by the world’s foremost authorities on color. Many small and mid-size companies, as well as major corporations in a broad range of industries, rely on Pantone to devise and revise their product colors, packaging and corporate color identities.
Learn more about our Management Team or Contact Us.
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