Vital Signs Pittsburgh: It's All About The Color...

And The Winner Is..

MARSALA

How We Color Match

Today I would like to explain to you how we sign & print "creatives" at Vital Signs are able to match exact colors to our customer's projects. We use, what is known in the business, as the Pantone Color Matching System or PMS system.

In 1963, a very cleaver person decided to create a system that would help in identifying colors with their multiple shades, and The Pantone Color Matching System was born. The Pantone Color Matching System is a largely standardized color reproduction system. By standardizing the colors, different manufacturers in various locations can all refer to the Pantone System to make sure colors match without direct contact with one another. The Pantone Fan includes a full color spectrum of 6" x 2" thin panels which show various shades of one color per panel.

Pantone Color System

Color By Numbers

One such use is standardizing colors in the CMYK process. The CMYK process is a method of printing color by using four inks--cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. A majority of the world's printed material is produced using the CMYK process, and there is a special subset of Pantone colors that can be reproduced using CMYK. However, most of the Pantone system's 1,114 spot colors (any color generated by an ink, pure or mixed, that is printed in a single run) cannot be simulated with CMYK, but with 13 base pigments (14 including black) mixed in specified amounts. The Pantone system also allows for many special colors to be produced, such as metallics and flourescents. Pantone colors are described by their allocated number (typically referred to as, for example, "PMS 130").

What's The Significance?

The reason that this system is so important is because so many different industries (fashion; interior designers; builders; print/design; advertisers, etc.) rely on using and matching colors. Think about it. When you want to paint your house, you go to look at paint swatches. Paint swatches are very similar to a Pantone color panel. The swatches show you a color that starts from it's lightest shade at one end of the panel, to it's darkest shade at the other end. When trying to match colors and tones, the Pantone system (or similar paint color system) makes it an easy process. For instance, you have decided to use a shade that falls right in the middle of the lightest & darkest part of the swatch for your main room color. You would like to use a different color for your trim. You can choose whichever color you like & move down to the center of the swatch (at the same level of the panel you are using for your main color) & use the same tone value. Using similar tone values will help to keep the balance of the colors from clashing with each other.

Color In The Fashion Industry

At Vital Signs we have customers who have specific Pantone colors that have been used in the design of their logo, business colors and branding. It is essential that any signs or custom printing we do for our customers, use those same chosen colors. Using a Pantone Chart ensures our design team and our customer, that we will meet the exact color tone. All computer screens are calibrated differently. My screen is unlikely to exactly match my customer's screen . By choosing a Pantone color, we don't have to worry about what we see on our screens, as we know that the printed output will match the intended color(s). Some of our customers may not require an exact Pantone match, and may indicate that a color close to a certain Pantone shade will work. But when an exact match is required, Vital Signs has your color!