Pantone or CMYK for Packaging
One decision, made before artwork is sent: does this colour need a spot match, or will CMYK hold it.
For brand and packaging teams whose colour has to survive a run, a substrate change or a reorder. Plate charges are quoted per design and counted on the quote, and the approved proof is what bulk is matched against.
The Test
Ask what the colour is doing on the pack.
Both read differently on different boards and finishes, which is why the approved proof, not the file, is the colour reference for bulk.
| A colour that carries the brand needs Pantone. | If it appears on every pack, is recognised on its own, and a shift would look like a different product, specify a Pantone. It is mixed as its own ink and repeats across runs. |
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| A colour inside an image does not. | Photography, gradients and illustrations are built from CMYK by definition. Asking for a spot match inside a photograph is asking for something the process cannot deliver. |
| What each choice costs. | A Pantone is a separate ink and a separate plate. Printing plates are quoted from about USD 50 and charged once per design; one plate per spot colour per printed design, and the count for your job is listed on the quote. CMYK adds nothing beyond the standard four. |
| What each does about repeatability. | A Pantone is mixed to a published recipe, so the ink itself is specified rather than reconstructed.CMYK is rebuilt from four inks each run. |
What to Send for Each Route
A hex code is a screen value. It has no fixed print equivalent, and converting one without a reference is a guess we would rather not make on your behalf.
For a spot match:
the Pantone code, and whether it is coated or uncoated. The same number on coated and uncoated stock is two visibly different colours.
For CMYK:
a print-ready file with the colour profile embedded. A screenshot or a web hex is a screen value.
What Goes Wrong
Matching to a screen.
Screens are backlit and vary by device. A colour approved on a monitor and rejected on paper is a dispute neither side can settle afterwards, because the two were never looking at the same thing.
Sending a hex for a spot colour.
The conversion has to be made by someone. If you do not choose the Pantone, the result is whichever one looked closest.
Expecting one colour across different boards and finishes.
The same ink on kraft and on white board reads differently, and matte lamination dulls a colour that gloss keeps bright. If a set of packs has to match across substrates, say so – it changes how the proof is set up.
What We Print, and What Settles the Colour
Zhypacking prints CMYK offset and Pantone spot colour, with matte, gloss and soft-touch lamination, spot UV, gold and silver foil, embossing and debossing, windowing and die-cutting available as finishing. The boards those inks go on: coated art paper up to about 375 gsm, white card 200–450 gsm, kraft 80–200 gsm for bags and 250–450 gsm board for mailers, and a 128–157 gsm coated wrap on rigid boxes. Printed tissue runs 17–30 gsm with water-based ink.
The approved proof is the colour reference for bulk. It sits downstream of the file, the screen and the Pantone book on your desk, and it is the one of the four that production is set against.
If your own buyer requires a measured colour figure, include it in the enquiry so it is settled before the proof is made.
Where to Go Next
Print proof approval covers where colour is signed off and what that signature covers. The approved proof is what bulk is matched against, which puts the decision on this page upstream of it.
The packaging glossary explains the finishing terms that change how a colour reads. Matte lamination dulls a colour that gloss keeps bright, and the same ink on kraft and on white board are two different results; approving a colour without knowing the finish is how a matched Pantone still gets rejected on delivery.
Custom packaging services covers where the colour decision sits in the wider brief-to-sample workflow.
Send Your Colour Reference
Send the colour reference before artwork is finalised; the quote then names the route, what to send for it, and the plate cost if a spot colour is the answer.
Sent late, the conversion is made from the file without a reference, and the first time anyone checks it is on the proof. If a set of packs has to match across different boards or finishes, say so in the same message – that changes how the proof is set up.