Pantone Color Guide for Use With Wilflex PFX Mixing System

[SteveS]

So we've been using the old Wilflex MX mixing system for years past and over the last couple of years migrated to the PFX system. We've had a couple of old Pantone Color Guides around the shop for reference tools and have realized that they're probably outdated and don't even really match each other very well.

Looking at buying a new Pantone Color Guide only frustrates me due to all the convoluted options out there.

Can someone that understands the Wilflex system and Pantone please share with me the best color guide I need to have in the shop for a reference tool? Coated, Uncoated, etc. Obviously we don't need all the stuff a lot of these kits come with but there are literally 3-4 pages of products on Amazon with every option imaginable.

Can I get a hand here? What does our shop need to keep on hand for a Pantone reference guide?

[jvanick]

we use the Pantone Plus Series:

http://www.amazon.com/PANTONE-GP1501-Series-Formula-Uncoated/dp/1590653289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418155248&sr=8-1&keywords=pantone+plus+series+formula+guide

same ones that came with the mixing kit originally.

Pantone recommends replacing them yearly... I can say that after 2 years, they definitely don't match a brand new one, or colors that were mixed with them from several years back... not sure if it's due to the paper or uv light or a combination, but definitely best to toss 'em and get new ones after a few years if you need EXACT colors...

[Colin]

Pantone Solid Coated is the industry standard.

All Major ink companies have a Pantone Licensed mixing system based on the Solid Coated Color books.

As for the books not looking the same year after year.... it goes deeper than that lol. 

Pantone's digital color spaces do not match the books..... 

When the paper stock in the Pantone books changes.... so do the colors.  They go from looking washed out to being very bright and clean... it just depends on how "white the paper is" and the coating on the paper....  Each book print run they need to mix new inks... get new paper stock.... so each book "Edition" is going to be slightly different.

That is the very short story.

[SteveS]

Yeah, what a mess. Now that I've ordered the standard guides, I received a detailed spreadsheet from Wilflex that lists all their PMS cross references that now mention a bunch of GOE colors. ARGHHHH!!!!! The guides I bought don't cover the GOE colors.

Crap, I can't win for losing.