Measures the Color of Anything

Pantone, a unit of X-Rite, expands its arsenal of affordable color tools by extending its Goe System with the GoeBridge color guide for coated paper. The firm also will soon start shipping both Color Cue 2.1, the latest version of its portable color identification device, and a creative professional version of its ColorMunki color management, calibration and matching solution.

Pantone launched The Goe System (pronounced go), a new color specification system, a year ago. (GAM Sept. 07, p.14).

GoeBridge is a fan-out swatchbook that lets creative professionals accurately visualize and evaluate how the more than 2,000 solid colors in the Goe System will reproduce in CMYK. It provides conversion formulas for CMYK, RGB and HTML in a single guide, allowing users to repurpose projects for multiple color spaces, including the Web. An uncoated version launched in June.

The coated guide is printed with ISO-certified inks on No. 1 grade, 100-lb. textweight coated offset stock that is FSC-certified.

Pantone will offer the guide, shipping next month, at an introductory price of $99 through Jan. 1, 2009; the standard retail price is $129.

Color Cue 2.1 features seven Pantone Libraries including the complete Goe System, both coated and uncoated. Users of the device now have access to more than 11,000 Pantone colors. The device also includes a new LCD screen with configurable displays for easy viewing; it records the last 30 colors measured for later reference, and is powered by a standard nine-volt battery. Color Cue 2.1 is available at the introductory price of $299 through Jan. 1 ($349 SRP).

ColorMunki, the digital counterpart to the GoeBridge, expands its product line with Create. Targeted at graphic designers, it is a software and hardware solution for creating, managing, searching, verifying and sharing color palettes.

Priced at $149, it is an affordable starting point for designers whose primary objective is color palette creation; ColorMunki Create is part of the portfolio of products that includes Photo and Design versions.

The Create version automates color palette creation with a variety of tools for color selection. Colors can be chosen from system-level color pickers, Pantone color libraries including the Pantone Matching System and Goe, or even from keyword searches or color harmonies. ColorMunki can also identify and extract colors from images, saving time in the design process.

Users of Create have the ability to snap any color from a built-in library to Pantone colors. Palettes can be imported into popular design applications including Adobe Creative Suite and QuarkXPress, as well as other industry-standard applications. A palette synchronization function automatically updates any changes in palettes to the design applications.

ColorMunki Create also includes a monitor calibrator to ensure colors are viewed accurately on screen. A PrintSafe verification feature provides a one-click, out-of-gamut preview by paper type that alerts users as to which colors in their palettes are achievable or not.

The deals are available at pantone.com. All products in the portfolio are supported by the colormunki.com online resource portal.