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Can You Use Pantone Colors in Photoshop?

Last updated on May 14, 2023 @ 8:56 am

Pantone colors are a great way to add some personality to your designs, but can you use them in Photoshop?

The short answer is yes, you can use Pantone colors in Photoshop! However, the colors won’t be 100% accurate to the Pantone colors, because Pantone colors are based on physical pigments while Photoshop colors are based on the RGB color model.

Using Pantone colors in Photoshop is useful for ensuring color accuracy when designing for print. However, keep in mind that Pantone colors are specific to the Pantone Matching System (PMS) and may not be accurately represented on all devices.

PRO TIP: When using Pantone colors in Photoshop, it is important to note that the colors may not appear exactly as they do in the Pantone book. This is due to the fact that each monitor displays colors differently, and because of this, the colors may appear darker or lighter than they actually are.

That said, you can still get pretty close to the original Pantone color by using the “Legacy Swatches” feature in Photoshop. Here’s how:

1. Open Photoshop and create a new document.

2. Go to the “Window” menu and select “Swatches” to open the Swatches panel.

3. Click on the small icon in the top-right corner of the Swatches panel and select the “Legacy Swatches” option.

4. Then, select “Pantone+ CMYK Coated,” “Pantone+ CMYK Uncoated” or “Pantone+ Metallic Coated”  from the drop-down menu.

 

5. This will open the Pantone color library in the Swatches panel.

6. To select a Pantone color, simply click on the swatch in the Swatches panel. This will set your foreground color to the selected Pantone color.

7. You can now use the selected Pantone color in your Photoshop document by using the Paint Bucket tool or the Brush tool.

So, there you have it! You can definitely use Pantone colors in Photoshop, but keep in mind that they won’t be 100% accurate.

 

Drew Clemente

Drew Clemente

Devops & Sysadmin engineer. I basically build infrastructure online.