This system, also known as the “pantonier”, offers today a palette of more than 2000 colours. It is the Tower of Babel of colours, offering all professionals in the printing, textile, coating and design industries in general a universal language. Thus, regardless of the quality of the screen, the printer, the software or the operating system used by the different actors in the design process, the colours will be defined by precise values and the risk of error on the hue is eliminated.
The code consists of a 3-digit code for the base colour, plus a 4-digit code for the shade.
For example, Bumblebee yellow has the code 14-0958.
There is not one but many Pantone colour charts. There are U series (uncoated for uncoated paper), C series (coated for coated paper), M series for matt paper, colour charts for metallic colours, etc. The Pantone website allows you to choose your colour system according to your needs: printing, textile, digital, etc.
There is now a second palette, the FHI (Fashion, Home + Interiors), specifically dedicated to professionals in the decoration and fashion industries and enriched with 315 new colours.