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PMS 376. RGB. Pantone Swatches. CMYK. What in the world? 

Colors can be beautiful and wonderful, yet at the same time confusing and frustrating. As a designer, I love color but hate the problems it can create. Often people are confused by all the jargon, the media that color can be used in, and all the variations that may come from one color. I've tried to tackle some of these questions by explaining the basics. Get ready! This is going to be a hefty chunk of info.

You Need to Know
There are many different methods of displaying a single color. Each medium (paper, computer, projector, etc.) uses a specific method, and each method (RGB, CMYK, PMS) uses a specific formula. It's important to know which method to use with which medium, because they will give you different results. 

Pantone (or PMS or Spot Color)

• WHAT: Pantones are a color matching system used in America, Europe and most of Asia.
• WHEN TO USE: If you're working with a professional printer they will use Pantone formulas when printing offset (the process that uses real ink, like paint). Professional printers also use Pantone swatch books to match your CMYK printing (as close as is possible because it can never be exact) to a specific Pantone.
• WHEN NOT TO USE: You should NOT use Pantones while printing from your personal/digital printer or on-screen.

CMYK

• WHAT: This stands for Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ("k" for black instead of "b" so you don't get confused and think blue).
• WHEN TO USE: CMYK is the process that digital machines use to print on paper, so it is the formula you should use when you are printing things yourself. It is also how professional printers print full color.
• WHEN NOT TO USE: CMYK does NOT belong on-screen.

RGB

• WHAT: This stands for Red Green Blue.
• WHEN TO USE: RGB is how color is translated on digital screens in electronic devices. It is the formula you should use for on-screen only.
• WHEN NOT TO USE: You should NOT print in RGB!

HTML (HEX)

• WHAT: The letter/number combination formula of color.
• WHEN TO USE: For on-screen, used most often in web coding.
• WHEN NOT TO USE: You should NOT print in HTML (HEX).

Formulas
In the image above are formulas for each color variation. These formulas help translate one variation of a specific color (like the CMYK of the orange) to another (like RGB of that same orange). Each number in each formula correlates with a color. For example, if you were going to translate the Pantone swatch to a digital, on-screen RGB then the red would be 232, green would be 119 and blue would be 34. 

Variations
If you are trying to print a color or put something on-screen and it doesn't look correct, ask yourself, "Am I using the appropriate color or color formula? Am I using the appropriate file type?" If the answer is "yes" to both of those, then congratulations! You have joined the league of designers who hate that color changes from screen to paper, from printer to printer and so on, and who are as equally frustrated as you. 

Even if you've used the correct file type and the correct color formula, there still is variation between printed material, digital rendering, and consistency between printers. It's frustrating, but there's only so much you can do to control the outcome. If you're having major printing problems on a digital printer, you can call the manufacturer and ask them to send out a rep to calibrate it. (Sometimes this will help.)

Understanding the above info and using it correctly will improve your ability to work with color and control the outcomes as best you can. 

I'll be following up with a post on file types and when to use what and where!