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A color matching system gives graphic designers, document creators and printers
a common language and set of standards to specify color. Within the graphic arts
and printing industry, the most widely used system is the Pantone Matching System,
abbreviated PMS. The system includes both solid (spot) colors created by premixed
inks, and four-color process colors created by using cyan (light blue), magenta,
yellow and black inks. Colors are assembled in a chip book that assigns a number to
each color and provides the formula for mixing it.
Because the surface of the paper—coated (shiny), uncoated (no shine) or matte (dull
shine)—aects the appearance of colors, a dierent chip book is needed for each
surface. Pantone assigns a sux (C, U or M) to the color’s number to indicate the
type of paper. Using the sux means the color’s number stays consistent across all
chip books.
The Pantone Matching System enables precise communication regarding color, and
ensures color consistency between initial printing and reprints.
Additive primary colors: the primary
colors of light— red, green and blue— from
which all other colors can be made.
Black: the absence of light; the color that is
produced when an object absorbs all light.
Brightness: the degree to which a color
sample appears to reflect light.
Color: the human perceptual response to
dierent wavelengths of light impinging on the
photoreceptors in the retina.
Color space: a three-dimensional
representation of the colors that can be produced
by a color model such as RGB or CMYK.
Colorants: materials used to produce color
such as dyes, inks, pigments, toners or phosphors.
Cyan: a subtractive primary color. Cyan
colorants absorb all red light, and reflect green
and blue to appear light blue.
Device-dependent: a color space defined
in terms of physical colorants, such as a
monitor’s RGB or a printing press’s CMYK.
The color produced by device-dependent
values depends on the physical properties and
colorants of the device.
Four-color process printing: the process
of reproducing a full-color image by overprinting
screened color separations for each of the three
process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow) + black
ink. Also called full-color printing.
Hue: the attribute of a color that describes
its dominant wavelength (such as red, yellow,
green, blue).
Magenta: a subtractive primary color.
Magenta absorbs green light, and reflects red
and blue to appear magenta.
Primary colors: colors that cannot be made
by mixing and from which all other colors are
made. The primary colors of light are red, green
and blue (additive primaries). The primary
colors of pigments are cyan, magenta and
yellow (subtractive primaries).
Saturation (also known as chroma):
the property of a color that makes it appear
strongly colored. Black, white and gray lack
saturation; pastels have low saturation.
Spot color: designates a single hue printing
ink, usually based on a color matching system
such as Pantone Matching System (PMS).
Subtractive primary colors: the primary
colors of pigments—cyan, magenta, and
yellow—from which all other subtractive
colors can be made.
Yellow: a subtractive primary color. Yellow
absorbs blue light, and reflects red and green to
appear yellow.