A newly-minted InDesign CS6 user e-mailed us this query:
I wanted to see if there is a way to change the display of the Pantone Plus book colours instead of by colour/grouping, listing them numerically. If you try to type certain numbers in it, you can’t find them (ie: 543 always defaults to 5435 and you aren’t allowed to change it/delete the additional “5”). Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately, I can’t see any way to change the order of the swatches in any of the color libraries in the New Swatch dialog box. My guess is that since they’re embedded in a dialog box (as opposed to a panel, as in Illustrator, where you can sort a library’s swatches by name), InDesign can’t really provide that flexibility.
It is frustrating that in earlier versions, though, you could enter “543” in the Pantone spot color Find field to get Pantone 543, and “5435” to get 5435; but you can’t in CS6-as you said, it always jumps to 5435. The only way I was able to find Pantone 543 in the screen shot below was by typing “54” and then using my up and down arrow keys for a few minutes until I found the sucker.
I believe this is a bug with the new Pantone+ libraries in InDesign CS6, and hope that it’s something easily fixed in an upcoming patch.
In the meantime, I have a somewhat drastic, but I believe safe, workaround: Add an older version Pantone swatch library back into the program, and use that to select your spot color.
Adding back an older Pantone swatch library
Before I get to the how-to on adding a swatch library to InDesign CS6 (and it’s quite simple), let me explain. The main difference between the older Pantone libraries and the new Pantone+ ones in InDesign CS6 is how the spot colors are defined internally for on-screen display: as CMYK (old version) or Lab (new Plus version). The Lab values, having a wider gamut, give a more accurate preview on screen. Illustrator has been using Lab values for its Pantone spot colors since CS2.
For the past few versions of InDesign, you could (and still can) make the older Pantone swatches use Lab definitions by choosing “Use standard Lab values for Spots” in the Ink Manager (available in the Swatches panel menu). When InDesign is using the Lab values, a little icon indicating a Lab color next to the spot color icon appears – here it is in close-up:
The Lab color definition is also used if you convert your spot colors to process, or if objects filled with a spot color are part of certain transparency effects. If you’re working in a tightly managed color workflow, you’ll need to pay attention to these kinds of things. But if all you’re doing is using a spot for a spot, when you print out CMYK + spot separations, it makes no difference how things looked on screen. Whether Pantone 5435 is defined to display onscreen as Lab or as CMYK, either will end up on the same separation plate and be the same exact ink on paper.
Okay, now let’s move on to the how-to: I found a wonderful Adobe help document all about Pantone Plus, aimed at Illustrator users, that also has instructions for InDesign users. It’s called Pantone Plus color libraries, and instructs Illustrator (and InDesign) users how to replace the newer Lab-based Pantone libraries with the older CMYK-based ones. (I would never recommend that personally, but I suppose if for some reason that’s the only solution for your workflow, it’d be a relief to know how to to switch back.)
What’s great is that for our purposes, this Help file has a ZIP file of the Pantone libraries, so we don’t have to use the Pantone Color Manager application (a bit problematic) to fiddle with our swatch libraries, we can just drag and drop them manually. Look at that Pantone Plus color libraries online document, about 2/3 of the way down (at the end of its “Workaround 1” instructions), and you’ll find a link to the older Pantone swatch libraries, Older_Pantone.zip. Download that zip file, extract the contents, and copy over just the libraries you need to your InDesign application folder.
The “Workaround 1: Adobe InDesign CS6” steps in the Help file show you exactly where the files should go, so follow their instructions. Remember though that the instructions are all about replacing files, but we’re not doing that .. .just adding them. The filenames are different so there’s no worries. The new ones you add appear at the bottom of the list. Here I added PANTONE solid coated and PANTONE solid matte, the spot libraries I use 99% of the time:
Now if I find I’m fighting with an overly zealous autocomplete in CS6’s Pantone swatch picker, I can just quickly switch to the older Pantone library at the bottom of the dropdown menu. In that library, I can enter “543” in the spot color Find field and get Pantone 543, simple as that. (Remember, it’s the same color as the Pantone+ library!) If I want Pantone 5435, I can use either the Pantone+ or the older Pantone library.
To keep things consistent, make sure InDesign always uses Lab values for spots by enabling that checkbox in the Ink Manager. Do this with no documents open so it becomes an application default.
This article was last modified on December 21, 2021
This article was first published on July 5, 2012
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