Who Owns Colors? Adobe and Pantone's Breakup Explained

Adobe let their license for Pantone colors lapse, and many Pantone hues disappeared from apps like Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Pantone wants you to pay them for digital color libraries with, what else, a subscription scheme. Are you unfamiliar with Pantone? Are colors intellectual property? What does this mean for digital content creators and the design industry? One thing's for sure: when two companies don’t get along, their customers lose. I'm a 20+ year veteran of the graphics industry, and I’ve created a FAQ to answer many questions, clear misconceptions, and give an idea of a path forward.

See the Blog Post for Transcript and Links: https://www.userlandia.com/home/2022/...

Published November 2, 2022

= Chapters =

00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:19 - Who am I, and Why Should You Care?
00:02:18 - What is Pantone?
00:04:39 - Can You Copyright a Color?
00:06:19 - Does UPS Own Brown?
00:07:44 - What Happened Between Pantone and Adobe?
00:08:32 - Why Do Apps Have Pantone Libraries?
00:09:53 - Can I Use Pantone Colors Without Libraries?
00:10:26 - What's In Adobe's Spot Libraries?
00:11:17 - Can I Still Use Pantone Colors in Adobe Products?
00:12:33 - Can I Make My Own Pantone Libraries?
00:13:42 - Why Do People Specify Pantone Colors?
00:14:41 - How Are Pantone Inks Made?
00:15:42 - Pantone Colors and Hex Values
00:19:06 - Determining Hex Values for Pantone Colors
00:20:50 - Why Now? Wouldn't This Annoy Customers?
00:21:27 - What Happens to Pantone Colors in my Files?
00:22:23 - Where's Pantone's Competitors?
00:24:35 - Any Alternatives to Adobe?
00:24:55 - Why Is Photoshop Turning Colors Black?
00:25:45 - Will Pantone or Adobe Lose Marketshare?
00:27:19 - Outro and Credits
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