“To access the complete set of Pantone Color Books, Pantone now requires customers to purchase a premium license through Pantone Connect and install a plug-in using Adobe Exchange.”
As a creative that uses Pantone regularly, it is a slap on the face. Companies that use Pantone colours in the design, print, and production processes pay for the Pantone colour charts.
It is understandable that Pantone wants to shift its business model, and it makes sense to roll it out after the announcement has been made, even if I don’t agree with the move.
It is not acceptable for Pantone to pull support in old files and force users to pay for that.
PSD files that contained Pantone spot colors now display unwanted black in their place, forcing creatives who need access to the industry-standard color books to pay for a plugin subscription.
This is actually an excellent opportunity for a competing standard to replace Pantone, ideally one that is open sourced and community-driven, not controlled by a corporate.
Time for Color Index International to stand up?
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