[SmileBCS]

I have a job where a customer is complaining about a colour.

I received a logo file with a pantone colour ref- as above.

It has been interpreted an 100,82,0,2, but the client insists that it should be 100,73,0,2 from a pantone chart. The artwork was signed off and went to print.

As much as a "how do I solve this" I'm asking, why the different codes?

[Arhiann]

Because it's subjective. You will get different results from different programs, and reflex blue tends to come out a bit purple. There is no definitive CMYK value though.

That's why we have spot colours after all, to represent a colour that can't be printed as CMYK.

[SmileBCS]

So a Pantone colour reference, or series of, in 4 colour printing is a no-no. unless its 5 colour (with Reflex Blue as 5th colour)

How do you normally deal with a pantone colour reference from a customer, make an approximation , tell them it'll cost x2 (x3), both?

[Arhiann]

There are some spot colours you can get pretty darn close to, possibly to the extent that a layman may not notice a difference.

If colour is critical, and with a spot colour it frequently is, be careful. They may be happy for the RIP to convert the spot on the fly (cue different results from different RIPS), but they may not. I had the opposite problem recently; a client queried a job because my spot printing was different to his CMYK printing he had previously. Three experienced heads looked at it and were of the opinion that it was precisely the correct pantone, and the CMYK conversion was wrong. There was no argument because it's a pantone reference.

The point of a pantone reference is to have a fixed point that we can't argue over; it either is or it isn't. One of the issues with CMYK is that in the hands of someone inexperienced, you can get different results from the same file by changing press, operator, inks etc. IMHO it's not an exact science, but it's pretty close, that's why we have colour profiles (whether CMYK or Pantone).

To answer your question regarding pricing, I print it in a spot colour and charge accordingly. I don't really do short run CMYK as there's no money in it any more (I guess that's what you are doing here)

[SparkCreative]

Tell him to change his logo colour. Reflex blue is horrible! ;)

It is a really difficult colour to match in CMYK though. I tend to only go for colours that will split nicely when I'm doing corporate IDs etc.

[steverushton]

Originally Posted by SparkCreative

Tell him to change his logo colour. Reflex blue is horrible! ;)

It is a really difficult colour to match in CMYK though. I tend to only go for colours that will split nicely when I'm doing corporate IDs etc.

Blimey... you are a rarity in the design world

Reflex Blue is a nightmare.. as you mention... the CMYK breakdowns can even vary between pantone books (we had an example of this last week). Besides... the 2 values mentioned at the beginning of the thread are so small that most wouldn't notice... and the weights run on the print press are more likely to be the issue.

[SparkCreative]

Originally Posted by steverushton

Blimey... you are a rarity in the design world

lol yep. One of my best mates from school went into printing, so I always got an ear bashing off him for years about designers speccing things that couldn't be printed. Which means I try not to do that. It also helps that I can just about remember the days before Macs, so I have a little bit of an understanding of the physical processes involved. I'm old school, me.

[steverushton]

Originally Posted by SparkCreative

lol yep. One of my best mates from school went into printing, so I always got an ear bashing off him for years about designers speccing things that couldn't be printed. Which means I try not to do that. It also helps that I can just about remember the days before Macs, so I have a little bit of an understanding of the physical processes involved. I'm old school, me.

You mean...

you have felt the weight of dozens of baseboard artworks required to print a brochure
you remember transparencies
you can use a scalpel
you remember fondly the smell of spraymount
you remember when 4 colour process was more expensive than spot colour work

... I could go on!

[SparkCreative]

Ahhh... the smell of spraymount. And the taste. And the feel of it stuck all over you and your office before those Health & Safety wimps bought in spray booths... Maybe the old days weren't all that good after all...

[dogsbody]

Mmmm spraymount