X-Rite and Pantone have unveiled PantoneLive, a cloud-based color service that provides instant access to essential brand color standards.

PantoneLive is the first service under the Pantone Digital Business Unit, a newly created division of X-Rite that combines Pantone’s color authority and expertise and X-Rite’s color science and technology leadership. Pantone became a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Rite in 2007.

“Globally consistent color standards are essential to brand identity. With supply chains made up of hundreds of different facilities scattered around the world, corporations struggle to control and maintain color consistency,” says Dr. Sonia Megert, who will head up the new Pantone Digital Business Unit. “PantoneLive is a dynamic ecosystem, open to all supply-chain participants, which delivers consistent color across the entire packaging workflow – from design concept to retail store shelves.”

Brand color standards are the principal component of PantoneLive, and are derived from real ink on real substrates using real printing processes. This is designed to allow brand owners to predict how corporate spot colors will reproduce on a wide variety of substrates, including brown corrugated, clear film, and white polypropylene, Pantone reports. A brand’s color assets are then managed and maintained in a secure, cloud-based data repository to ensure accurate color communication to any supplier around the world.

PantoneLive is connected to a large portfolio of software, containing real-world color data for hundreds of thousands of colors, and is supported by the modern color-measurement technology. This is combined with professional services including workflow and color rationalization audits, and customized operating procedures from Pantone and X-Rite. Custom and bespoke spectral data, as well as metadata, are used to digitize brand colors. Digitized palettes are then expanded to create independent color standards to allow for accurate color reproduction on a variety of substrates.
Brand color data, equivalent to a digital color swatch, is stored in a secure, cloud-based portal that lets brand owners and other approved members of the supply chain manage digital rights and facilitate color communication across all materials in the production process. This centralized color-communication process promotes consistency and helps achieve speed to market efficiencies from initial design to final production. The portal also provides direction to suppliers to meet brand requirements related to color quality.

While users of any manufacturer’s ink will be able to take advantage of PantoneLive, Pantone reports, Sun Chemical has been named the preferred ink partner. Esko has also been named a preferred partner supporting PantoneLive. Both companies worked closely with Pantone and X-Rite to develop PantoneLive, Pantone reports; Sun Chemical’s technology and color data are the foundations for PantoneLive, and this technology is integrated into Esko’s solutions. Pantone and X-Rite report that they are continuing to work with leading vendors to integrate and enhance their solutions with PantoneLive.

PantoneLive solutions will be available effective June 15.

Pricing: Access to the PantoneLive database starts at $99 annually for a designer; $1150 annually for pre-production; and from $2000 for production. A color audit for a brand owner starts at $4500. Additional fees apply depending on services and scope required.

PANTONELIVE
www.pantone.com/live

X-RITE
www.xrite.com