Pantone Updates HexWare, HexVector, and HexImage

With the release of Pantone's new versions of HexWare, HexVector, and HexImage color-management software, users of Adobe's Creative Suite, including Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator CS, will be able to take advantage of the Hexachrome 6-color process for dynamic color output. For Adobe InDesign CS users, artwork and images separated using HexVector or HexImage can be brought directly into the layout program.

Pantone's Hexachrome 6-color process includes orange and green inks and is designed for high-quality printing, rendering more colors than the traditional CMYK process colors. Since designers cannot work with native Hexachrome files in Photoshop or Illustrator, Pantone developed HexWare for designing and separating files for print by providing color-correcting and ink-density control.

HexVector, an Illustrator plug-in, converts vector graphics and line art to Hexachrome and provides access to specially developed Pantone Color swatch libraries optimized for Hexachrome.

Pantone HexImage, the plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, provides color correction and soft-proofing capabilities for bitmapped images and converts them into 6-color Hexachrome separated DCS 2.0 files.

The company also has introduced Pantone x-ref, a free-Web-based cross-referencing utility that allows users to quickly match colors between Pantone Color Systems. Matching Pantone colors across different mediums can be difficult since each system is based on a different color formulation. X-ref enables users to identify colors in the Pantone Matching System, Pantone Plastics Color, or Pantone. X-ref is available free of charge to members of myPantone, the company's free information portal. (Pantone: www.pantone.com)