Classification
Spot color classification has led to thousands of discrete colors being given unique names or numbers. There are several industry standards in the classification of spot color systems, such as:
- Pantone, the dominant spot color printing system in the United States and Europe.
- Toyo, a common spot color system in Japan.
- DIC, another common Japanese spot color system.
- ANPA, a palette of 300 colors specified by the American Newspaper Publishers Association for spot color usage in newspapers.
- GCMI, a standard for color used in package printing developed by the Glass Packaging Institute (formerly known as the Glass Container Manufacturers Institute, hence the abbreviation).
- HKS is a color system which contains 120 spot colors and 3250 tones for coated and uncoated paper. HKS is an abbreviation of three German color manufacturers: Hostmann-Steinberg Druckfarben, Kast + Ehinger Druckfarben and H. Schmincke & Co.
- RAL (color space system) is a color matching system used in Europe. The so-called RAL CLASSIC system is mainly used for varnish and powder coating.
Because each color system creates their own colors from scratch, spot colors from one system may be impossible to find within the library of another.
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