# Is anyone printing Pantone colors from Illustrator to Ricoh 3300?



## LaserHead (Jul 10, 2010)

I'm trying to print Pantone colors from the Ricoh 3300 from Illustrator and it's killing me. I've read and read and read and I see all the posts about not using Pantone colors and using other palettes, but I get the majority of my work in Pantone colors, in Illustrator. Having to do all this cross matching of colors is a real pain and is causing me more grief than I'd like.

I can't understand several things and I can't find anyone that can explain them, so I'm asking here!

If Pantone is CMYK, and my printer is CMYK, then why does everyone insist on converting it to RGB? So it's CMYK -----> RGB ------> CMYK printer. Doesn't make sense to me. Why can't we just use CMYK color space and print to CMYK printer and get good results? Right now, I'm picking the pantone colors, changing them to RGB using the little button that does that, and then printing from there.

I've used the Conde supplied driver and instructions and I'm about 2 colors off on every Pantone color I do. I tried the Sawgrass PowerDriver and it came in WAYYYYY off. In talking to Sawgrass, they wanted me to use the ColorSure Palette, which has so few colors, it's not anywhere close to what I need to match the logos I'm supplied with. Plus, a straight Pantone set of colors, sent over didn't come anywhere near being close. Probably 5-10 shades off.

So obviously I'm doing something wrong. In Illustrator, I have color management turned off in the options, but when you print, it still says "Use Illustrator" to determine colors. You can't select anything other than that, but I figure since I've got it turned off, then it's not doing anything.

I know it's got to be a lot simpler than me printing 60 pages of color swatches and matching the colors to an existing pantone chart. If I can get within 1/2 a shade or so, I'm good, but I can't be 2 entire chips off.

What am I missing? Obviously something! I'd also be thrilled to speak to someone on the phone that's using it, hitting the colors, and has Illustrator so I can check my settings as we speak, but that's wishful thinking!

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks-


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## adub47 (Jul 2, 2008)

I know this can be tough to achieve let alone try and answer your question -I've been working in the digital printing industry and have used many different laser printers and have been put through the matching pantone colors many different times.

The bottom line is, is that a CMYK printer WILL NOT match a pantone color. Pantone colors are a different build and CMYK can only create a close comparison to the pantone color that you're trying to get. There is a swatch book - Graphics - COLOR BRIDGE® Coated that shows the CMYK equivilant to the pantone color. 

The gamut that CMYK has is much less than what someone can create in a lab to come up with for a pantone color. For example - using a 1 color press or a 5 color press you can load the pantone color for fed ex orange...but good luck trying to print that bright orange on a cmyk printer...cmyk does not convert to that specific build of orange...The reason you're probably being told to print using an RGB profile is because RGB has a wider gamut than CMYK and because laser printers are toner based they do a little bit better when trying to stretch the color possibilities the spectrum is a little wider than a traditional SWOP color profile that you would find on a traditional press. 

Unfortunately every printer will be different and you'll just have to adjust the color values to see how close you can get. I would recommend making small boxes with different builds and printing out a sheet and see which one is the closest to what you're trying to get and adjust the CMYK values accordingly until you hit the spot...or at least come close to it. There is some skill involved as an operator to be able to understand color builds etc...and how your machine reacts to certain colors. Some colors convert within 1-2 shades but others (usually the bright colors) you cant even get close to it.

I know this post doesn't help much with your exact issue but may help you understand some of the hurdles of why you cant print pantone colors with a CMYK printer. 

The attached image shows a pantone color "C" and the "PC" - process (CMYK) coated equivalent.

Adub47


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## Conde_David (May 29, 2008)

You need to print a large chart and sublimate
it. Then use your Pantone book to find the color.
Then choose that color at the computer.

Pantone solid colors are not cmyk colors.
They are solid colors.

When we make a profile it is really using a color
Space called "lab".

Pantone has tried to provide accurate lab values
For corel and illustrator but no profile is
perfect.

Email me and I will provide an excellent
Chart.


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## LaserHead (Jul 10, 2010)

Thanks for the help. I know you can't hit pantone colors dead on, and I know of the troubles of trying to print certain colors, on normal printers, like reflex blue, etc. 

David called me and we had a discussion about the right path to take for the work we do and he's got us headed down a path that I think will work perfectly for our applications. 

As soon as I can get some charts pressed, we'll take it all for a test drive and report back!

Thanks!
Steve


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