Been using Pantone swatch books for 15 years, just switched to digital color matching and honestly I'm mad I waited so long

For the longest time I refused to touch digital color tools because I thought the physical swatches were the only way to get accurate matches with my printer. Last month a client in Austin sent me a brand guide with specific hex codes and asked for a test print. I downloaded a cheap color calibration app for my phone, cross referenced with my monitor calibrator, and the print came out exact. Has anyone else made the switch and found the digital tools are actually way more precise than the paper swatches?

2 comments

2 Comments

josephf1016d ago

My monitor started giving me trouble after a firmware update last month and it threw off my digital matching completely for two days. The physical swatches actually saved me there because I could hold them up to the screen and see the shift. So digital is great 95% of the time but that 5% where your calibration gets borked by some driver update makes me keep the old book around for emergencies. Nobody talks about how the software side of digital tools can break just as easy as paper can fade. I treat digital like my main tool now but I store the Pantone book in my desk drawer as a safety net for those weird moments.

grace92616d ago

oh for real, the digital tools are way more precise. once you get the calibration right it's kinda wild lol.