Pantone, an X-Rite company and provider of professional color management services and tools, including the Pantone color language, has released PantoneLIVE Design and Pantone Simulator Prints, an integrated physical and digital workflow duo for packaging designers.

PantoneLIVE Design, a new digital product as part of the cloud-based color library system PantoneLIVE, enables digital color management for designers working in packaging materials. Pantone colors are automatically updated and synced in Adobe applications via the plugin, so designers can work with color more easily. With the ability to display how Pantone colors will change when applied to the most common print and packaging materials, PantoneLIVE Design allows designers understand color achievability earlier in the design process, thereby reducing the trial and error involved in ensuring that the final product matches design intent.

Ninety percent of brand marketers report responsiveness or rapid-prototyping along the supply chain is critical to delivering an exceptional customer experience, according to research conducted by The CMO Council, in partnership with Pantone, Media Beacon, Esko, X-Rite and AVT. This product release responds to the need for rapid responsiveness with tools that reduce rework in production. To address the need for more customized on-demand physical tools, Pantone also launches today Pantone Simulator Prints, a physical representation of Pantone colors on packaging materials, which can be ordered through PantoneLIVE Design and created within 24-48 hours for delivery to the customer. 

Combining the benefits of quick turn-around, digital integration, and the ability to hold and see a tangible reference for clear quality control, the integrated offerings of PantoneLIVE Design and Pantone Simulator Prints are a direct response to customer demand for more digitally integrated workflows and versatile standards products that together enable a more streamlined design process.  These products also offer designers a working education about the importance of color management in production, which is often an afterthought, but in reality, impacts more than 60% of production approvals or rejections.  

This product release is another milestone in Pantone’s venture to bring color references into the digital age, evidenced first by the launch of PANTONE STUDIO last summer: “Pantone is endeavoring to transform our universal color language into a more dynamic and digitally-led system, meeting designers where they are already working,” Kathryn Shah, Vice President of Global Marketing at Pantone, says. “As packaging design becomes more central in driving consumers to purchase, Pantone has developed these new tools to directly address the need for production efficiency, as a result of our evolved approach to streamline color management processes and usher color references into the digital age.

To inform this new approach, Pantone invested in significant customer research with designers and their production partners to understand what color management gaps, both digital and physical, are occurring during development. Over 1,000 designers recruited from Instagram participated in online surveys about their modern color management needs.  Pantone also conducted customer testimonial research at industry events, gathering invaluable insight to guide the new company direction. Further research commissioned by Pantone showed that although most designers use digital tools, 94% of all designers are creating products that will end up in the physical world, demonstrating the need for both physical and digital tools that provide checks on product outputs.