Pantone vs. CMYK for Custom Branded Packaging

The RGB color model and HEX codes are both ways to describe colors for digital screens.

RGB stands for Red, Green, and Blue–the three colors of light that mix to create all the colors you see on a screen.

RGB is primarily used for digital content—websites, screens, and other electronic applications. It cannot be used for printing and exists solely for electronic displays.

Typical file formats for RGB include JPG, PSD, and PNG. Each color in RGB has a value ranging from 0 to 255, which tells the screen how much red, green, and blue to mix.

HEX codes are like a shorthand version of RGB. Instead of numbers from 0 to 255, they mix numbers and letters (from 0 to 9 and A to F).

For example, the color white in RGB is (255, 255, 255), and in HEX, it’s written as #FFFFFF. They both mean the same thing, just written differently.

Pantone (PMS) and CMYK refer to colors rendered by printing inks. They relate to actual pigments, whereas RGB and associated Hex codes refer to colors that are generated by light.

If you're printing your packaging, you want to work in the Pantone and CMYK world.

CMYK colors. Source: Getty Images

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (Key) and is used for printing processes where four separate plates apply specific amounts of ink to create colors. Common CMYK file formats are AI, PDF, and EPS.

Compared to Pantone standards, CMYK can lead to inconsistencies when replicating certain colors, especially vibrant blues, greens, and purples.

An important consideration is that CMYK and RGB also produce visible differences. What you see on screen in RGB will often look different when printed in CMYK, with RGB colors appearing brighter and more vibrant on screen than their printed counterparts.

Note that a seven-color process system adds Orange, Green, and Violet (OGV) to the CMYK. Adding these three colors allows for printing even better and more accurate colors. However, a seven-color process is significantly more expensive and not frequently used for packaging.

Fun fact: a printed image is actually made with tons of minuscule dots of color that, when looked at together, create the color and image you are printing.

Pantone colors. Source: pixabay

The Pantone Matching System (PMS) provides a universal color language, ensuring precise color consistency across substrates and processes.

Pantone colors are pre-mixed inks that produce shades outside the CMYK spectrum, resulting in brighter, more pigmented colors with crisp lines.

Ideally, designers and printers purchase swatch books from the Pantone corporation to visually see and confirm how the ink will look when printed.

With a Pantone print, each color utilizes a different ink. If your project is PANTONE 286, PANTONE Red 032, and Black, it requires three colors and, in most instances, would require three different printing plates.

Converting CMYK to Pantone is not an exact science because Pantone colors are based on specific pigments, while CMYK is a mix of four process colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). However, you can get a close Pantone match from a CMYK value by using tools or software like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or online conversion tools.

Here’s a general method for converting CMYK to Pantone:

1. Using Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop  

- Adobe Illustrator:

    1. Open your file and select the object with the CMYK color you want to convert.

    2. Go to the Window menu and choose Swatches.

    3. In the Swatches panel, click on the New Swatch button.

    4. Select Color Mode: CMYK and input your CMYK values.

    5. Afterward, go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork.

    6. In the Recolor Artwork panel, click on the small Swatch Libraries Menu at the bottom and choose Pantone Solid Coated (or the relevant Pantone library).

    7. Illustrator will find the closest Pantone match based on your CMYK values.

- Adobe Photoshop:

    1. Open the color picker and input your CMYK values.

    2. Once you've set your color, click Color Libraries to switch to Pantone colors.

    3. Photoshop will show the closest Pantone match based on your CMYK values.

2. Online CMYK to Pantone Conversion Tools

There are many free online tools you can use to convert CMYK to Pantone, such as Pantone Color Finder and EasyRGB.

3. Manually Matching CMYK to Pantone  

You can also refer to a physical Pantone color book and compare your printed CMYK sample to Pantone swatches to find the closest match manually.

Important Considerations

Printing Variability - CMYK colors can appear differently depending on the printing process, while Pantone colors are more consistent because they are spot colors. The conversion will often result in the closest approximation, but exact matches may not always be possible.

Gamut Limitations - Some Pantone colors cannot be fully reproduced in CMYK because Pantone offers a wider range of colors than the CMYK gamut.

Once you’ve chosen between CMYK and Pantone, the next decision is coated vs uncoated. There is an important distinction between coated versus uncoated printing surfaces with regard to color.

Coated (C) and uncoated (U) Pantone colors denote the type of surface being printed on, with coated colors appearing richer and uncoated colors appearing more muted. These codes may not always be directly transferable, as different substrates absorb ink differently. Therefore, adjustments may be necessary for an accurate match.

Pantone codes vary across applications, from fabric and textiles (e.g., TCX, TN) to printing (C, U) and graphic design (CP, UP), providing a consistent reference for accurate color reproduction.

For example, a poly mailer is a coated surface, as are coated papers. When ink is put on a poly mailer, it sits on the surface. On the other hand, when that same ink is applied to an uncoated kraft mailer, the ink is absorbed into the material.

Coated surfaces generally have a brighter finish, while uncoated surfaces have a more matte or faded finish.

The following graphic helps convey the difference. However, remember that you are viewing these colors on a screen in RGB, so they do not accurately convey the PMS colors.

When selecting the color you want for a print, determine if the printing substrate is coated or uncoated. Pantone offers an uncoated and coated color-matching booklet used across the printing industry. The most common are the Pantone Formula Guide Coated Book and the Pantone Formula Guide Uncoated Book.

Be sure to use the right book for your specific jobs, so you have a more accurate sense of how your chosen color will render on your printing substrate.

What is better - CMYK (Process) or Pantone (Spot) Colors?

There isn’t one great answer.

CMYK is incredible because you can render many custom colors and images while using it. However, the print quality may not be as good because of the “dots” approach used for CMYK printing, and color accuracy can’t be guaranteed.

With Pantone colors, you are limited to the number of colors your printing press can print. However, the very origin and definition of the Pantone system mean you should match your colors pretty closely.

That said, choosing between CMYK and Pantone is not the question you should answer.

The main question is how you are printing.

If your materials are printed digitally, they will likely use CMYK colors. In digital printing, software translates an image on a screen to the printer, which renders the image on a substrate using the CMYK process approach.

If your materials are printed using flexographic or offset printing, they can use either Pantone or CMYK colors, although the plating cost for a CYMK print can be substantially higher than that of a Pantone print.

Flexographic or offset printing is a process by which a printing plate that matches your artwork is produced. Each ink color requires a unique printing plate. Ink is laid on the printing plate, which “stamps” your printing surface with that ink. Flexographic and offset printers can use a four-color CMYK process or PMS colors.

Flexographic printing. Source: Getty Images

However, most eCommerce brands don’t choose their print method. Therefore, you should ask how your material is being printed. Once you know what type of printing is used, you can determine whether you need to think about PMS or CMYK colors and develop your art file and color strategy accordingly.

An art file printed with Pantone inks should ultimately be translated into specific PMS colors for each layer or color in that file. Much of the custom printed packaging that EcoEnclose produces is done flexographically with Pantone inks. Typically, a company sends us an art file and specifies their desired PMS color(s) for that file.

Depending on the print, selecting the PMS colors may be your job as the customer. In more complex, multi-color prints, it may be the printer's job if the art file requires someone to build and layer PMS colors to achieve a final image.

If you’ve decided on the PMS colors for your art, be sure they are labeled accurately in your art file, and then call them out in your proof or communications with your printer.

When printing something digitally, you’ll generally want to translate your art file into CMYK colors (not RGB).

How can you help ensure your printed material matches your expected colors?

First, when selecting your CMYK or PMS color, it is recommended that you use a physical color matching book available from the Pantone Corporation. This book allows you to match colors on paper rather than on a screen, given that RGB colors on a screen are not designed to match a printout exactly.

It can, however, get even more complicated if you’re using non-white sustainable packaging materials.

We highly recommend ordering an ink swatch before placing your entire order to ensure you’re completely satisfied with the final print.

Colors can look different on various screens and devices, so viewing a physical swatch helps you see how the ink will appear on your specific material. This step allows you to confirm the exact color match, finish, and overall look before we move forward with production. It’s a small investment that ensures no surprises and that your brand’s colors shine precisely as you envisioned.

Printing on Kraft Material

Most of EcoEnclose’s products are made of kraft material, such as corrugated shipping boxes, kraft mailers, padded mailers, and apparel mailers. Kraft adds a layer of complexity to color matching since Pantone books are all on a white background.

Printing inks are not opaque, meaning that the color of the paper affects the final result of the print. Therefore, PMS colors applied to a kraft background are typically darker and "browner" than on a white surface.

Understanding this reality is even more critical for CMYK printing, which “assumes” the substrate is white and “utilizes” the white when mixing the four colors to create the desired final color.

A CMYK print on a kraft substrate will be darker than on a white background, and for some colors, such as browns, greens, and oranges, the actual printed outcome may be quite different than what is on a white paper or a white screen.

Pantone Ink Absorption on Kraft Paper

Additionally, even though Pantone has color-matching books for coated and uncoated surfaces, they don’t fully capture the unique distinctions of every single uncoated surface. For example, our paper-based mailers are 100% recycled, making them more porous than your average uncoated kraft paper surface.

Flexo, inkjet, and toner inks are absorbed differently into printing material. Even different versions (brands, ink carriers, etc.) of the same type of ink will absorb differently.

Toner and inkjet are both forms of digital CMYK process printing. An inkjet sprays little liquid ink dots, while a toner sprays actual pigment in a powder form onto a printing substrate. Inkjet inks are absorbed much more than toner.

Flexographic inks are absorbed into our boxes and paper-based mailers but much less than inkjet inks. Additionally, each ink absorbs slightly differently when printed on our corrugated shipping boxes versus our padded mailers versus our rigid mailers since each has a different level of smoothness and recycled content.

What does this mean for color matching?

Here, we break down color matching for each of our ink options.

Stock Pantone Ink

If your packaging is printed with EcoEnclose using our flexographic printing process in one of our stock Pantone colors, rest assured that we have years of experience with these colors and are confident in how they will render on your material. If you want to see for yourself before ordering, we can usually provide a sample of a printed package in the color(s) you are considering.

Custom Pantone Ink

If you are printing using a custom PMS color beyond our stock offerings (which we offer for a fee), you are printing on a kraft-colored surface, and you are very focused on achieving an exact right color match, we recommend requesting a drawdown of your desired ink.

A drawdown is done by inking your actual printing surface with the ink color you are considering so you can see how it renders on a swatch. They will help you see how the custom ink will render on our kraft products. If you’re printing on a white surface, such as our ivory poly mailers, you should not need a drawdown, but make sure you choose your PMS (coated or uncoated) colors accurately.

Digital, Multi-Color Prints

If your kraft packaging is printed with us digitally and is, therefore, using a CMYK process, we will work closely with you on colors. For some prints, particularly those with pinks, greens, blues, and greys, CMYK renders colors fairly accurately, even on kraft surfaces. Color matching can be more difficult for other colors, particularly oranges and browns.

EcoEnclose will match your colors as best as possible with these multi-color digital prints, and if we run into issues, we will work with you to agree on coloring before printing your job. In most cases, we will send you a photo of the print. In some cases, this may mean we will send you a physical printed package for you to review.

Inline Production Prints

At high volumes, some of our mailers are printed inline (i.e., while the mailers are being manufactured). Depending on the mailer, these can be printed using Pantone colors or a four-color CMYK flexo printing process. Please work with us to clarify the printing process for your inline order to align your art and color expectations.