Expert: Amy - 8/15/2007

Question
I'm using Illustrator CS2 on a PC, and I'm trying to match some color samples of flooring with a printed version of the floor plan in color.  Rather than manually making a grid and filling each square with a different color swatch, is there a way to just print out a big table with all of the Pantone colors?  All of our plotters produce drastically different colors, so if I want to print out both small and large scale versions, I need to change the colors for each one...

Answer
Hi Saji,

I had to think about this one.
So a couple of ways you could try.

Display the Pantone library on screen - change the palette settings to medium thumbnail (bigger squares) then do a Alt+PrtSc to copy the window to the computer's clipboard, then paste the clipboard into your document.

Easier and cool and free, too:
http://pantone.com/pages/calibratedprinters/calibratedprinters.aspx

A bunch of color printable PDF files all labeled and everything! Those are adjusted for different printers.

http://pantone.com/downloads/inkjetsolutions/downloads/pdfs/ColorChart.pdf
That one, I think, is the CMYK mixes for the solids, no adjustments. I don't know which of those links is better for your project.

Make sure to go to Pantone's home page and learn the color of the day. =)

Hope this helps!
Amy