The pantones (or PMS – Pantone Matching System) are an assortment of colours that are created by ink, printed using a single run. They have a numbering system so that every individual colour is unique and can be identified easily. This system was created to help manufactures everywhere to communicate the specific colour they need through these standardized pantone numbers.
The pantone solid palette is usually the most commonly referenced colours between manufacturers and their clients. They are an assembly of colours ranging up to 1,114 single spot colours which are created using thirteen base pigments. These are usually identified in 3-4 digit numbers with a C, U or M at the end to specify if it’s coated, uncoated or matte.
The process palette consists of more than 3,000 different colour variations, digitally created with the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) process printing. These colours are presented with a DS in the front and hyphenated numbers as well as the ‘C’ and ‘U’ to specify the exact colour. One should keep in mind if the colour they chose is for coated paper or uncoated paper as the tone of colour changes drastically from one to the other.