COLOR ME FRUSTRATED: USERS REACT TO ADOBE/PANTONE RIFT OVER PMS LIBRARIES
As far as graphics professionals are concerned, there probably never was a more inspired pairing of technologies than Adobe’s Creative Cloud software and the Pantone Matching System (PMS) for color specification. When designers, prepress specialists, and printers use these industry-standard tools synergistically, they know they can count on getting predictable color output and consistently acceptable results in whatever combinations of inks and substrates they choose to work with. The Adobe/Pantone synergy still exists, but achieving it has become more complicated – and more costly. Changes set in motion by the two companies earlier in the year are in full effect now, obliging many users to make hard choices about how they will handle their design and color quality management workflows going forward.
This has happened because most of the PMS color libraries – the digital equivalents of Pantone’s universally used printed color swatch books – are no longer built directly into the newest versions of the Adobe Creative Cloud applications InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Users who want to go on working with the libraries must now access them through a Pantone plug-in that adds a subscription charge over and above the licensing fee paid to Adobe. Subscriptions to Pantone Connect will cost consumers $14.99 monthly or $89.99 annually; businesses pay $89.99 or $149.99 per user per year, depending on the number of seats. These prices, which represent a significant increase over what Pantone originally announced in January, could add up to serious money in some environments.
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