HEX to Pantone conversion in Affinity Suite and software differences with PhotoShop

[Pyanepsion]

Hello everyone,

I'm working on a project with a designer who uses Adobe Photoshop, while I use Affinity Designer. The designer provided me with a specific color in hexadecimal code (#e80e65), but I needed the corresponding Pantone code.

When I asked for this conversion, he used Photoshop and gave me the following codes: P 65-8 C (Pantone+ CMYK coated) and P 65-8 U (Pantone+ CMYK uncoated).

However, when I tried to find the corresponding Pantone code in Affinity Designer, I didn't get the same results, but #D94764. I've read that these differences may be due to the way each software handles color profiles and converts between different color spaces. In addition, Adobe and Affinity may use different versions of the Pantone library, which could explain the differences.

This leads me to two questions:

1. How can I find the Pantone code corresponding to a hexadecimal color in Affinity Designer? Is there a specific tool or method for this? I understand that Affinity Designer may not offer the same color conversion features as Photoshop. Is this correct?

2. Is it possible that the hexadecimal code for the same color looks different in Affinity Designer than in Photoshop, due to the differences in color management between the two programs? Is there a way to harmonize this to get consistent color results?

I'm open to any suggestions and advice you can give me. Thank you in advance for your help.

Best regards,
Pyanepsion

[Pyanepsion]

Thank you, @BofG, for your reply and your reminder of the importance of the colour profile. As you rightly pointed out, the representation of a colour can vary depending on the profile used. However, I opened the same PSD file as the designer. So, logically, we should be using the same colour profile and colour format. What’s more, the designer uses the default settings.

1. Despite this, we get very different hexadecimal values between Photoshop (for him) and Affinity Designer (for me). Do you have any idea why this might be happening and how we could harmonize our results?
2. My main question, however, was how to get a Pantone match from a hexadecimal color in Affinity Designer, without having to use external tools. Does the Affinity suite offer this important color conversion function like Photoshop? Do you have any further information on this subject?

Thank you once again for your help and expertise.

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, Pyanepsion said:

However, I opened the same PSD file as the designer. So, logically, we should be using the same colour profile and colour format.

That is not necessarily true, as you have the option via Settings, Color, to convert documents you Open into your chosen working color space.

[lacerto]

3 hours ago, Pyanepsion said:

My main question, however, was how to get a Pantone match from a hexadecimal color in Affinity Designer, without having to use external tools. Does the Affinity suite offer this important color conversion function like Photoshop? Do you have any further information on this subject?

There is no way since Affinity apps cannot map color values (in any color space) to library colors, whether special (spot) inks, or defined in some process color mode, like in case of PANTONE+ CMYK Coated or Uncoated, in CMYK. But I fail to see the point of trying to match any color value (RGB or CMYK) within a CMYK-based PANTONE color library since that would mean different colors for anyone trying to use that library color, depending on which CMYK and RGB color profiles they are using in the document where the color is to be applied. I am not sure if even PANTONE describes the conditions where their CMYK color swatches have been produced. These are pretty much obsolete libraries from the time ISO-based color management with calibrated wide-gamut displays were not available (so that it was not possible to render realistically even the CMYK color gamut on regular displays).

E.g., the CMYK color definition of P-65-8 C is M100 Y41 (= PANTONE defined value) which produces slightly different colors depending on the kind of paper these values are printed on (and depending also on print conditions), and different RGB values (whether expressed in 8-bit, percentage or hexadecimal notation), depending on the underlying document CMYK and RGB color profile pair. #e80e65 = R232 G14 B101 in 8-bit is pretty close to the conversion that you would get if your CMYK profile is U.S. Web Coated and RGB profile sRGB (the default Affinity profiles): #ED1063 = R237 G16 B99 in 8-bit. The defaults in Adobe environment vary depending on the version of CS / CC and the conversion values are also likely to be slightly different because of using a different color management engine.

[bteifeld]

I would suggest that you consider the thoughts and ideas in this book to guide future

interactions with designers regarding spot/brand color:

https://www.projectbbcg.guide/

and then get yourself a color measurement device like an Xrite i1pro2/i1pro3 or a Nix Spectro 2.

Be sure that you and designers you work with calibrate and profile their monitors to assure you are seeing the best possible rendition of color.

Have your designers always provide L*a*b* specification of color, ideally based on measurement of the sample they want,  to assure best accuracy.

All these steps will simplify things greatly in assuring that you and designers produce the color you intend.

 

 

[Oufti]

9 hours ago, bteifeld said:

Have your designers always provide L*a*b* specification of color, ideally based on measurement of the sample they want,  to assure best accuracy.

+1.

As a first step towards accuracy, if you share the L*a*b values for the specific colours (instead of Pantone references) AND you use the same profiles, you should already have a result close to what you expect.