In 2021, Adobe introduced two changes to the Creative Cloud apps that had the potential – over time – to cause real headaches for those who assemble, design, preflight or print artwork. The first issue was the end of support for Type 1 fonts; and the second issue later that year was the announcement that future versions of Adobe Creative Cloud would no longer feature Pantone color libraries.
Several years on, we can now feel the impact of these decisions. From my perspective, the end of support for Type 1 fonts was cushioned by my work having the foresight to adopt OpenType fonts early on. Similarly, the rise of platforms such as Adobe Fonts and Google Fonts have made the transition to an OpenType workflow far easier by providing a wide range of versatile fonts in the cross-platform OpenType format. That isn’t to say the issue isn’t there, but it largely affects legacy files only, not new artwork that needs creation.
The same cannot necessarily be said for the second issue – the lack of Pantone color libraries from Creative Cloud 2024 release onward. Prior to this release, users were given some respite by the removal date initially being delayed, and then for the 2023 Creative Cloud release reducing the Pantone libraries to three sets. But as of October 2024, there is nowhere to hide – there are no Pantone libraries that ship with Creative Cloud by default.
Let’s not worry about who did what
This article isn’t a finger pointing exercise. Whatever happened behind closed doors to end up with this outcome – it’s done, we just have to navigate this new environment. If you’re after further insight on that, perhaps read this Wired article, but this article isn’t to add my two cents to negotiations that I wasn’t part of.
This is an issue for me today
If you’re a designer who is working in contemporary media such as epubs, websites, video or phone apps, lack of access to Pantone colors probably isn’t a big deal. Likewise, if you are in a print environment where work is only as full colour process or black and white such as a newspaper, this isn’t insurmountable.
However, my line of work relies on matching brand guidelines set by clients or their designers, and many of these guidelines refer to Pantone’s color libraries. Even though the Pantone color libraries may not be available in the Adobe applications, designers and clients still have their old Pantone swatch books to use as references.
Despite working in a largely full colour process digital workflow, spot colors still play an important part. In this previous Colecandoo post, digital printers take advantage of spot colors by way of treating them as independent color channels that affect only specific areas of artwork. But these color channels have to refer to a real-life color reference, and for most customers that is the Pantone swatch books.
So what are others doing?
With this in mind, I felt that this had to be an issue with other designers and printers, so I posted a survey on the InDesignSecrets group that featured various options open to those facing the same issue. At the time of writing this article, I was surprised by the results.
The top reaction to this change with 38% of votes was to use an old acb/ace swatch file. 18% of votes had subscribed to Pantone connect, but it barely edged out the third option of 17% which was to open an old file that contained the colour, and the fourth most popular option was to set up work as Process only.
Other answers were:
- use competitor spot colors
- set as process but ask the printer to substitute for spot
- use older version of InDesign that still has the libraries
- use freetone colors
- download ase from RIP
- create the spot color using the values from a physical swatch book
Interestingly, no respondent chose an option to use competitor software (whether migrating completely, or just to get a swatch into an .ai or PDF file and then return to Creative Cloud) such as Quark Xpress, Serif’s Affinity Suite, Corel Draw or – believe it or not – Microsoft Publisher, that continue to feature the Pantone color libraries. This also segues into another potential problem in the future – could these applications suffer the same fate of having the libraries removed from their software? While at Adobe MAX 2023, I did visit the PANTONE stand and pose the question to staff on site, but yet to receive a response.
Is there another way of asking “I want it to be this color?”
For all its criticisms, at least the Pantone libraries have some sort of order. Everyone can relate to sampling color chips from a hardware store to debate between Heritage Red, Manor Red or Red Oak, only to realise they’re basically the same color. But have you ever stopped for a moment to consider what the 021 in PANTONE Orange 021 C actually means? Similarly, why does PANTONE Reflex Blue C have that name, rather than referring to its wavelength in nanometres?
While many colors are spectral (a single wavelength or frequency of light in the visible spectrum), some are extraspectral (that is, evoked by a combination of spectral colors – Magenta is one example). This means that referring to a color by its wavelength alone is not enough as not every color can be measured this way. Instead, color – as measured by spectrophotometers – analyse light in terms of the amount of energy present at each spectral wavelength. One such company that makes spectrophotometers is X-Rite, but it is also worth noting that X-Rite and Pantone are owned by the same company, Veralto.
This frustrates everyone – no-one wins
I’ve no doubt that anyone likes this outcome. Pantone is likely disappointed that their revenue stream of Pantone Connect followers isn’t there, and users are choosing novel ways of using Pantone colors without becoming a Connect follower. Adobe is likely disappointed that they cannot maintain the status quo as in previous years and have to bear the negative press of the removal of the libraries. And of course, users are disappointed that they either have to pay more money to pick colors that they used to choose for free; or have to perform their own digital gymnastics to get the Pantone libraries into their 2024 Creative Cloud workflow.