Pantone and X-Rite Bring Color to the Cloud

Pam Pfiffner

Pantone and X-Rite announced today a new online color-matching service called PantoneLIVE. The system uses an Internet cloud, or online storage system, in which corporations and individuals can control and maintain the colors associated with their brand to ensure its colors are used accurately and consistently.
Pantone ties the need for a service like PantoneLIVE to a recent spate of legal cases involving color. In its press release, Pantone states: “From chocolates and champagne to soda and stilettos, the past year has been wrought with cases of counterfeiting, deception and consumer confusion – all tied to the ubiquitous colors that uniquely identify brands. Cadbury and Veuve Clicquot were involved in high-profile legal battles to own their brand colors, while Christian Louboutin fought to trademark its signature red soles. With color so critically tied to brand identity, inconsistent brand color can lead to a lack of consumer confidence and lost sales.”
With PantoneLIVE, designers and brand managers will have a secure, cloud-based repository in which to store critical color information such as off-the-shelf Pantone colors and custom color formulas used in their collateral and messaging. As with all cloud services, the main benefit of PantoneLIVE is that users around the globe all have access to the same color information at any time. In an era of distributed workplaces, it’s more important than ever that all outposts — even offices on the other side of the world — use correct color to solidify the brand in the minds of consumers.
Not all details have been revealed about how the system works, but Pantone says it will work with a large library of software so that color data is relevant in whatever application is being used for any particular purpose. As Pantone is part of X-Rite, accurate color measurement is part of the service, including profiling colors on a variety of substrates or output material such as brown corrugated, clear film and white polypropylene, according to Pantone. PantoneLIVE staff provide a variety services such as troubleshooting workflow and customizing procedures for the company.
PantoneLIVE is set to launch June 15. Pricing for access to the PantoneLIVE database starts at $99 annually for a designer, $1,150 annually for preproduction and from $2,000 to $2,650 annually for production. A color audit for a brand owner starts at $4,500 USD. Additional fees may apply.