Until recently, your usual experience using Pantone Graphics Products may have involved going to your office’s communal Pantone shelf and choosing the Chip Book or Guide you needed. Now that many of us have moved to working remotely, that communal Pantone shelf is no longer an option. Luckily, there are handheld, compact Pantone Guides available that can solve your graphic design needs and can be shipped right to your front door!

The Pantone Formula Guide is the color reference used around the world for color inspiration and specification for when you need bold, vivid, and accurate colors in your design work. The Formula Guide features 2,161 spot colors, including 294 recently added colors, shown on both coated and uncoated stock. The Formula Guide also includes color formulations, so printers can get a jump-start on the recipe to accurately reproduce your selected color.

The Pantone Color Bridge Guide allows you to preview 2,135 Pantone Spot Colors, including the 294 recently added colors, next to their closest CMYK-printed equivalent on coated and uncoated stock, so you can make an informed choice when choosing between spot and process printing. Color Bridge also offers RGB, CMYK, and Hex/HTML values for each Pantone Spot Color, allowing you to recreate it for screen and digital design.

Th Pantone Metallics Guide and Pastels & Neons Guide feature attention-grabbing spot colors that add pop and sophistication, perfect for making your packaging design stand out. These guides include 655 metallics colors on coated stock and 210 pastel and neon colors on both coated and uncoated stock.

The Pantone CMYK Guide offers a collection of 2,868 stand-alone CMYK colors and values, shown on both coated and uncoated stock, that are perfect for printing on a budget. The CMYK guide gives you affordable color options when you don’t need the vividness or accuracy of spot colors.

The Pantone Extended Gamut Guide features process color formulations that come as close as possible to the vividness and accuracy of Pantone Spot Colors on a budget through the use of 7-color process printing. The Extended Gamut Guide has 1,729 process colors on coated stock, and includes the CMYKOGV values your printer needs to produce them.

No matter where you are working, before you start your design work, make sure you are using a recent guide. While Pantone Guides and Books are produced using the highest manufacturing standards, they are still subject to the natural fading and aging that comes from light exposure, handling and paper aging. For this reason, we recommend replacing guides and books every 12 to 18 months to avoid using printed colors that have become inaccurate over time.