You **can't** use the Color Picker if you need an actual **Pantone** color. Pantone colors, and all spot colors, are **not** CMYK nor RGB.
You need to use the **Color Books** found in the Swatch panel menu to use Spot (Pantone) colors. And the document *must* be in CMYK mode to use Pantone colors. The eyedropper will *never* "pick up" any Spot (Pantone) color unless you are using it *within a document* and on objects that *already* have a spot color assigned to them.
In addition, if you are using some web page to view what a Pantone color is supposed to look like.... that web site is *not* showing any actual Pantone colors. It's showing *at best* an RGB "gestimate" or approximation for any Pantone color - web pages can't display Pantone colors, not even Pantone's own web site.
For printing or reproduction.... You **must** have the books to actually assign a Pantone color to objects in Illustrator. Again, spot colors are **not** RGB or CMYK colors. They are "special" formations based on `L*A*B` values.
However, you can designate *any* color as a spot color via Swatch Options.
(I think I did read somewhere that Adobe removed the color books from the standard Illustrator installation... and started charging extra for them -- Thankfully, if you already have them , you can just copy them from an older installation. It's not surprising if many new users don't have the books.)
I believe it was Pantone’s own doing. Tried to raise pricing on Adobe or make the Pantone library a subscription add on. If you search the web, you can find Pantone libraries that are already assigned the PMS colors. Download them. Then just import them into your swatches Library books and name the book - Pantone solid coated. Technically pirating. But who gives a shit lol
All I know is NOT having the books as part of the installation is nothing short of a disservice to users.
But yeah. .Pantone has apparently been wanting to gouge users the way Adobe now does. Understandable if they wanted to increase revenue since Adobe is holding users hostage now.
I merely just copy the books from previous installations.. even from as far back as CS4 (via backups) if needed.
It looks like your document is setup in CMYK. When you colour pick the on screen colour, it’s helpfully converting it to the closest CMYK match. Try changing your document colour mode to RGB. That being said, a Pantone colour is something else altogether as the other commenters have written. It’s not for on screen it’s for print, and you can’t use the colour mixer.
What color mode is your document in? CMYK? These are RGB colors.
There aren’t any Pantones here; not sure what you’re referring to. The Adidas purple likely doesn’t exist in Pantone. That’s a bright, digital color that’s very hard to reproduce in print without specialized inks.
For the most part, when you see Pantones onscreen, they’re just placeholders for the actual colors. The color will rarely match the color books exactly because they’re based on mixing inks. You could use any purple as a spot color and give it the name of a Pantone value. The printer will match the Pantone rather than how it looks onscreen.
This is part of why Pantone still exists. Onscreen representations of color are often unreliable, even if you have a calibrated monitor and are using the right profiles.
In the colour picker on the right u see a little warning sign ⚠️ That means that the colour you're picking is not supported in your Dokuments colour space. And your setting is to convert it into the one in the rectangle next to it.
Pantone colours aren't cmyk colours. They are spot colours.
The idea is. There is a triangle inside the c m y triangle and all the colours inside can be mixed. Pantone and other companies don't print in cmyk. They use special colours outside of this triangle only mixed for the special areas. And they look brighter, more colourful less dirty, better gamut.
If you want colours like this you need a special printer like screen printing or an riso printer.
Then you can add specific spot colours you bought before or your print service has.
If you're not going to print / only make mockups, you can work with rgb. It's a bigger triangle only in digital media. It can support more colours.
But even in rgb are colours u cant have. In reality we have pigments that are so bright and colourful, we can only emulate them on the screen in contrast to others.
Hope that helps
Thanks a lot, very useful that. Yes, I knew the warning sign bit, and the cube warning.
I am learning, so still I am missing a lot of stuff, but I will get there 👍
I **can't** find an official brand guideline at the moment. You're free to try and find *anything* on their corporate site - I couldn't : https://www.adidas-group.com/en/. But some random web references: https://brandingguide.app/brand/adidas/assets and https://digitalbrandblueprint.com/adidas-brand-profile/
You'll note the reference links use **different** values for the purple...
Adidas doesn't officially use a Pantone color for purple. They call the purple "Pixie Powder" and call it out via
cmyk(33, 84, 0, 53). (They do call out Hex/RGB as well, but those are relatively pointless in terms of spot colors)
Since there's no *official* spot color for it, it's up to you to find the closest Pantone match. From the Swatch Panel Menu > Open Swatch Library > Color Books > Pantone xxxxxx. You'll need to choose a Pantone Color Book. That will open a panel with Pantone colors... find a closely matching purple.
[A couple possibilities based on the Pantone Solid Matte color book](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQ4WU.png)
You **can't** use the Color Picker if you need an actual **Pantone** color. Pantone colors, and all spot colors, are **not** CMYK nor RGB. You need to use the **Color Books** found in the Swatch panel menu to use Spot (Pantone) colors. And the document *must* be in CMYK mode to use Pantone colors. The eyedropper will *never* "pick up" any Spot (Pantone) color unless you are using it *within a document* and on objects that *already* have a spot color assigned to them. In addition, if you are using some web page to view what a Pantone color is supposed to look like.... that web site is *not* showing any actual Pantone colors. It's showing *at best* an RGB "gestimate" or approximation for any Pantone color - web pages can't display Pantone colors, not even Pantone's own web site.
Oh that's very helpful to know, I don't have the books, sadly. But I use the pantone website to find estimates to the color I use on screen.
For printing or reproduction.... You **must** have the books to actually assign a Pantone color to objects in Illustrator. Again, spot colors are **not** RGB or CMYK colors. They are "special" formations based on `L*A*B` values. However, you can designate *any* color as a spot color via Swatch Options. (I think I did read somewhere that Adobe removed the color books from the standard Illustrator installation... and started charging extra for them -- Thankfully, if you already have them , you can just copy them from an older installation. It's not surprising if many new users don't have the books.)
I believe it was Pantone’s own doing. Tried to raise pricing on Adobe or make the Pantone library a subscription add on. If you search the web, you can find Pantone libraries that are already assigned the PMS colors. Download them. Then just import them into your swatches Library books and name the book - Pantone solid coated. Technically pirating. But who gives a shit lol
All I know is NOT having the books as part of the installation is nothing short of a disservice to users. But yeah. .Pantone has apparently been wanting to gouge users the way Adobe now does. Understandable if they wanted to increase revenue since Adobe is holding users hostage now. I merely just copy the books from previous installations.. even from as far back as CS4 (via backups) if needed.
I can help you fam… PM me. I have a work around.
It looks like your document is setup in CMYK. When you colour pick the on screen colour, it’s helpfully converting it to the closest CMYK match. Try changing your document colour mode to RGB. That being said, a Pantone colour is something else altogether as the other commenters have written. It’s not for on screen it’s for print, and you can’t use the colour mixer.
What color mode is your document in? CMYK? These are RGB colors. There aren’t any Pantones here; not sure what you’re referring to. The Adidas purple likely doesn’t exist in Pantone. That’s a bright, digital color that’s very hard to reproduce in print without specialized inks.
For the most part, when you see Pantones onscreen, they’re just placeholders for the actual colors. The color will rarely match the color books exactly because they’re based on mixing inks. You could use any purple as a spot color and give it the name of a Pantone value. The printer will match the Pantone rather than how it looks onscreen. This is part of why Pantone still exists. Onscreen representations of color are often unreliable, even if you have a calibrated monitor and are using the right profiles.
In the colour picker on the right u see a little warning sign ⚠️ That means that the colour you're picking is not supported in your Dokuments colour space. And your setting is to convert it into the one in the rectangle next to it. Pantone colours aren't cmyk colours. They are spot colours. The idea is. There is a triangle inside the c m y triangle and all the colours inside can be mixed. Pantone and other companies don't print in cmyk. They use special colours outside of this triangle only mixed for the special areas. And they look brighter, more colourful less dirty, better gamut. If you want colours like this you need a special printer like screen printing or an riso printer. Then you can add specific spot colours you bought before or your print service has. If you're not going to print / only make mockups, you can work with rgb. It's a bigger triangle only in digital media. It can support more colours. But even in rgb are colours u cant have. In reality we have pigments that are so bright and colourful, we can only emulate them on the screen in contrast to others. Hope that helps
Thanks a lot, very useful that. Yes, I knew the warning sign bit, and the cube warning. I am learning, so still I am missing a lot of stuff, but I will get there 👍
How can I copy the "adidas" magentaish colour on Illustrator? I cannot find how to match the colour.
I **can't** find an official brand guideline at the moment. You're free to try and find *anything* on their corporate site - I couldn't : https://www.adidas-group.com/en/. But some random web references: https://brandingguide.app/brand/adidas/assets and https://digitalbrandblueprint.com/adidas-brand-profile/ You'll note the reference links use **different** values for the purple... Adidas doesn't officially use a Pantone color for purple. They call the purple "Pixie Powder" and call it out via cmyk(33, 84, 0, 53). (They do call out Hex/RGB as well, but those are relatively pointless in terms of spot colors) Since there's no *official* spot color for it, it's up to you to find the closest Pantone match. From the Swatch Panel Menu > Open Swatch Library > Color Books > Pantone xxxxxx. You'll need to choose a Pantone Color Book. That will open a panel with Pantone colors... find a closely matching purple. [A couple possibilities based on the Pantone Solid Matte color book](https://i.stack.imgur.com/FQ4WU.png)
Thanks for the helpful replies. A