Pantone® Pantone Solid Guide Set Coated & Uncoated

PANTONE Solid Guide Set: The Ultimate 3,479 Spot & Specialty Color Bundle

The PANTONE Solid Guide Set is the definitive portable color library for graphic designers, brand strategists, packaging specialists, and print professionals who demand absolute color accuracy. This cost-effective bundle packages four handheld fan decks containing the full spectrum of Pantone Matching System (PMS) spot, metallic, pastel, and neon inks.

By choosing the complete set, design teams gain immediate access to both core graphics colors and premium specialty inks—without the expense of buying individual guides.

What’s Included in the Solid Guide Set?

This comprehensive bundle features 4 essential Pantone fan guides:

1. Formula Guide Coated
2. Formula Guide Uncoated
3. Metallics Guide
4. Pastels & Neons Guide

In total, you receive 3,479 Pantone Spot and Specialty colors, broken down into:

• 2,614 Traditional Spot Colors (featuring 224 trend-driven additions and 5 basic ink formulations).
• 655 Metallic Inks for reflective depth, luxury labels, and high-impact packaging.
• 154 Softer Pastels for subtle, elegant branding.
• 56 High-Visibility Neons for bold promotional graphics and eye-catching identities.

Technical Specifications & Production Features

• Standardized Paper Stock: Printed on industry-standard press weights—148 g/m² (100 lb) for Coated stock and 118 g/m² (80 lb) for Uncoated stock.
• Ink Formulations Included: Every swatch displays its unique Pantone number (with C or U suffixes) alongside exact ink mixing recipes for prepress and pressroom teams.
• Chromatic Layout: Colors are arranged chromatically, allowing creatives to browse color families, evaluate neighboring tones, and build palettes intuitively.
• Lighting Evaluation Page: Features built-in Lighting Indicator pages (D50) to instantly show whether current ambient light is suitable for accurate visual color checking.
• Fast Reference Index: Numerical indexes at the back of each guide enable rapid location of specific color codes.

Spot Inks vs. 4-Color Process Printing

Pantone Spot Colors are custom-mixed inks formulated before hitting the press. Unlike standard CMYK printing—which creates colors by overlapping tiny cyan, magenta, yellow, and black dots—spot colors deliver:

• Flawless Brand Consistency: Uniform coverage across various production runs and materials.
• Vibrant Clean Solids: Smooth visual fields without half-tone dot patterns.
• Specialty Effects: Unique lusters (metallic) and high-luminescence tones (fluorescent) impossible to match on standard digital screens or four-color CMYK processes.

Coated vs. Uncoated References

The same ink formulation behaves differently depending on the substrate:

• Coated (C): Ink rests on top of the smooth coating, creating vibrant, highly saturated visuals.
• Uncoated (U): Ink absorbs into natural fibers, resulting in a softer, more muted finish.

Comparing both fan decks ensures you specify the exact C or U suffix for your intended paper surface.

Built for Seamless Production Workflows

• Bridge Creative & Technical Teams: Eliminates guesswork between graphic designers, brand owners, prepress, and printers.
• Maximum Portability: Compact fan decks travel easily from design studio to client presentations, prepress reviews, and press checks.
• Dedicated Spot Standard: Note: This set focuses exclusively on spot colors and mixing formulas. For CMYK, RGB, and HTML/Hex digital equivalents, refer to the PANTONE Color Bridge Guides.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How many colors are included in the updated Solid Guide Set?

The set includes 3,479 Pantone colors: 2,614 traditional graphics spot colors, 655 metallics, 154 pastels, and 56 neons.

Why are both Coated and Uncoated Formula Guides included?

Paper finish alters color appearance. Coated stock reflects light for a bright, crisp finish, while uncoated stock absorbs ink for a softer appearance. Including both guides helps you select and communicate the correct C or U reference.

Does this set include CMYK, RGB, or Hex code values?

No. The Solid Guide Set is designed specifically for spot-ink specification and mixing. For process-color equivalents (CMYK, RGB, HTML/Hex), use the PANTONE Color Bridge Set.

Where are the 224 new trend colors located?

The 224 new trend-driven Pantone Matching System colors are located at the front of both the Coated and Uncoated Formula Guides for immediate access.