Q: I have a CMYK swatch in InDesign. But now we want to use a spot color instead. Can InDesign tell me the closest Pantone color?
A: InDesign can’t do it alone, but with a little help from Photoshop, it’s possible:
1: Either note the CMYK (or RGB or Lab) values in InDesign, or take the easy route — apply the color to a frame, and then copy & paste the frame into a Photoshop file. (After pasting the frame, press the Enter key to rasterize the pasted content so you can read its value.)
2. If you’ve written down the color values, create a Foreground color with those values. If you just copied & pasted, use Photoshop’s Eyedropper to click on the area (creates Foreground color for you).
3. Click once on the Foreground color icon; this launches the Color Picker.
Click the “Color Libraries” button, and select correct library from the “Book” drop-down. Photoshop automatically highlights the closest swatch–woohoo!
This article was last modified on December 18, 2021
This article was first published on April 5, 2007
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