About the Pantone to CMYK Converter
Most jobs never run a spot ink. Business cards, brochures and packaging go through a four colour press, so a brand colour specified as a Pantone number has to be rebuilt from cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Enter references one per line and each returns a cmyk() build alongside a swatch of the ink it approximates.
This build is calculated from the screen approximation of the ink, which is not the same as the figure Pantone publishes in its bridge guides. Those figures are measured on press for a specific stock and often differ by several percent, particularly in oranges, deep blues and anything with a high black component. If your guideline document lists a CMYK build next to the Pantone number, use the document.
A handful of inks cannot be built at all. Reflex Blue and the brighter oranges sit outside the process gamut and always come back duller once converted, which is exactly why they get printed as spot colours on packaging. When that matters, keep the spot ink for the logo and let the rest of the artwork run as process. The reverse lookup lives at CMYK to Pantone, and RGB to CMYK handles builds that start from a screen colour.
How to use
- Type one Pantone reference on each line.
- Press Look up for the cyan, magenta, yellow and black percentages.
- Compare the build against any figures in your brand guidelines.
- Ask for a press proof before signing off a brand colour.
Common questions
- Why does this differ from the Pantone bridge value?
- Bridge values are measured on press for a given stock, while this build is calculated from an sRGB approximation.
- Which inks convert badly?
- Reflex Blue, bright oranges and vivid greens all fall outside the process gamut and come back noticeably duller.
- Should I use this build for packaging?
- Only for secondary elements. Keep the spot ink for the logo where an exact match is expected.
- Does the total ink coverage stay within limits?
- The calculated build is not limited for any press standard, so check it against your printer total ink coverage rule.