Ink directory

Spot colour, and what actually happens when we print it

The PANTONE® solid coated and solid uncoated inks we run, organised by family. Every note here is a production truth from our own press floor — how a colour shifts between stocks, what process printing cannot reach, and when the honest answer is foil instead of ink.

On-screen approximation — not a colour-accurate reference. Match to a physical PANTONE® chip before you sign off.

Colour families

Reds & pinks

The hardest family to hold across stocks. Reds go warm and dusty on uncoated, and the deep magentas are the classic CMYK failure case.

Oranges

Bright oranges are out of CMYK gamut almost across the board — 021 and its neighbours are the reason spot colour exists.

Yellows

The most translucent inks in the book. Yellow over anything but near-white is a coverage problem, not a colour problem.

Greens

Deep greens hold well on uncoated and are our most-requested corporate family after navy.

Blues

Our single most-run family. Navies read almost black on uncoated; brights lose their edge and need checking on a physical chip.

Purples & violets

Violets are the widest coated-to-uncoated shift in the book, and the family CMYK gets most obviously wrong.

Browns & warm neutrals

Excellent on uncoated and natural stocks, where the sheet's own warmth does half the work.

Greys

Cool Gray and Warm Gray are the quietest decision on the page and the easiest to get wrong. The temperature of the grey has to agree with the paper.

Blacks

There is no single black. Black 6 is the cold, dense one; Black 5 is a brown-black; a straight process black on uncoated is closer to charcoal.

Metallics (871–877)

Printed metal flake, not foil. A sheen, never a mirror — and worth knowing the difference before you specify it.

Neons & fluorescents (801–814)

Impossible in CMYK, impossible to keep. Loud for a reason, and honest about the fade.

The colours our clients actually specify

Ranked by how often they appear in our own order history — not by what a swatch site thinks is popular. Left half of each chip is coated, right half is uncoated.

PANTONE 294

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE Process Black

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 5535

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 021

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 382

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 285

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 1235

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 654

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE Black 6

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 626

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 806

Coated · Uncoated

PANTONE 2347

Coated · Uncoated

Coated vs uncoated

The same ink is not the same colour on the two stocks. On coated sheets the ink sits on a sealed surface: denser, brighter, sharper edges. On uncoated the fibres absorb it: softer, duller, slightly lighter, and warm colours lose the most punch. Some colours change character outright — brights go chalky, deep navies go grey-blue.

Ink is translucent

Offset and letterpress inks are translucent. On a dark or coloured stock a light ink will not cover — it sinks into the sheet and reads tone-on-tone. For light colour on dark paper the answer is foil stamping or an opaque screen pass, never a straight PMS hit.

Metallic ink vs foil

Metallic PMS is a printed approximation of metal: aluminium or bronze flake suspended in ink. It has a sheen, not a mirror. Foil is actual metal transferred under heat and pressure — reflective, sharp, and unmistakably different in the hand. If the brand asset is 'gold', foil is usually the honest answer and metallic ink is the budget one.

Fluorescents fade

Fluorescents fade. UV exposure kills them in months in a window, years in a drawer. They also cannot be matched in CMYK — there is no process build that reaches them, so a neon is a spot ink or it is nothing.

CMYK is an approximation

A CMYK build of a spot colour is an approximation, not the colour. It matters most on large flat solids, on brand-critical marks, and in the brights and deep blues where process simply cannot reach. It matters least in small type and inside photography.

Ink, paper and foil are one decision

A colour is only half the specification — the sheet under it and any metal beside it change what you get. Browse the paper directory and the foil directory alongside this one.

Common questions

Why use a Pantone spot colour instead of CMYK?: A spot colour is one pre-mixed ink laid down in one pass, so it is the same colour on every sheet, every run, every year. CMYK builds that colour out of four screens, which means it drifts with press conditions and cannot reach the brights, the deep blues, the fluorescents or the metallics at all. If the colour IS the brand, it is a spot.
Will my colour look the same on coated and uncoated paper?: No, and anyone who tells you otherwise has not printed it. Coated stock seals the surface so the ink sits on top: denser, brighter, sharper. Uncoated fibres absorb it: softer, duller, slightly lighter. Warm colours lose the most. That is why Pantone publishes two books, and why we quote against the one that matches your stock.
Can you print a light ink on dark paper?: Not with a standard offset or letterpress ink — those are translucent and will sink into the sheet rather than cover it. Light colour on dark stock is a foil stamp or an opaque screen pass. We will tell you which before you commit.
Is metallic Pantone the same as foil?: No. Metallic PMS is metal flake suspended in ink: a satin sheen you can print over large areas cheaply. Foil is actual metal transferred under heat and pressure — reflective, crisp, and unmistakably different in the hand. Put them side by side and the ink reads as a coloured grey.
Are the colours on this page accurate?: They are on-screen approximations, not colour-accurate references. No screen can show you an ink. Match to a physical PANTONE® chip, and ask us for a printed sample before you sign off on a brand colour.

PANTONE® is a registered trademark of Pantone LLC. Print Peppermint is not affiliated with or endorsed by Pantone LLC. Codes are referenced to identify the inks we print.