The Spot Color Finder in GMG ColorPlugin helps you quickly find and apply the best spot color matches for any selected object - whether it is defined in CMYK, Lab, another spot color, or even as a gradient. You can refine the search settings, preview the DeltaE for all color suggestions, select your preferred match, and convert your object right away. This makes spot color management faster, more consistent, and more accurate.
In this article, the following topics are covered:
- Prerequisites for the Spot Color Finder
- How to use the Spot Color Finder
- Handling multiple objects and multi-color objects
- Spot Color Finder search settings
Prerequisites for the Spot Color Finder
- An active internet connection to GMG OpenColor
- Published OpenColor projects to be used as source and target color spaces for the conversion
How to use the Spot Color Finder
- Select the vector object you want to convert and click Spot Color Finder in the plugin's main menu. For this example, we select a green object, defined in CMYK.
- The object color(s) are always shown at the top of the dialog, and the color channels used by these colors are listed below.
Under Source Project, select the OpenColor project that you want to use as the input color space for the conversion and confirm with Continue. - Select the OpenColor Output project containing the spot colors you want to search in (for example, a PANTONE® library). The number of available spot colors will be shown below ("Searching in 2161 spot colors").
- Under Search Settings, you can review the recommended presets. Use the defaults or customize them as needed.
For example, you can adjust the minimum and maximum ink coverage for all spot colors, include CMYK in the search, or select preferred spot colors to prioritize — for example, brand colors. For detailed setting descriptions, see Spot Color Finder search settings. - If all settings suit your needs, click on Find spot colors to start the search. A progress bar keeps you informed.
- After the search is complete, the ten best replacement options are listed in the dialog.
- First column: the object color(s) to be reproduced.
- Second and/or third column: the suggested spot color replacements (one or two spot colors, depending on the Max spot colors setting) together with the percentage of each spot color used to reproduce the object color.
- Third column: the expected DeltaE (ΔE00).
- Fourth column: the color preview, showing the expected object color after conversion. When you hover over a patch, the corresponding L*a*b is displayed.
- Above the replacement table: the substrate preview patch, showing the paper tint’s L*a*b when you hover over it.
- In case you are not satisfied with the suggestions, click Adjust search to change the Output project and/or search settings, and perform another search.
- Then select your preferred replacement option and click Convert to start the conversion.
The following picture shows that the object uses the selected spot color, here PANTONE 369C, instead of CMYK after the conversion.
Handling multiple objects and multicolored objects
The Spot Color Finder works not only for single objects with one color, but also when you select multiple objects at once or when the object itself contains several colors, such as gradients or blends.
The search process is the same in all cases. The only difference is in the dialog display: a single-color object shows one color patch, while multiple objects with different colors and multicolored objects display several patches representing the object color(s).
When working with complex gradients or blends, you can use the Max object colors setting to restrict how many of these input colors are shown in the suggestions. This helps reduce processing time while still ensuring reliable results.
Spot Color Finder search settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Min device value | Sets the minimum ink coverage for all spot colors. Useful to avoid very light tints that may not print reliably (e.g. values below 2–3%). Increasing the minimum can help ensure that only practical, printable spot color combinations are suggested. |
| Max device value | Sets the maximum ink coverage for all spot colors. Helps prevent spot colors with extremely high ink coverage (e.g. 95%) from being suggested. This is useful for processes where heavy ink loads cause drying or quality issues. |
| Max spot colors | Defines the maximum number of spot inks included in the separation. Use this setting to control printing complexity. For example, limit the output to 1 spot color when working with brand logos or simple graphics instead of allowing unlimited combinations. |
| Max object colors | Limits the maximum number of object colors considered in the suggestions. This applies both when you select multiple objects at once and when a single object contains several colors (e.g. a gradient or blend). If more colors are present than the defined limit, only that number of input colors will be included in the suggestions. Lower values reduce processing time, while higher values improve accuracy for complex gradients or blends. |
| Include CMYK | If activated, CMYK colors from the target project are also taken into account. This is helpful if you want to allow hybrid results (spot + CMYK) or if the closest match to a color is actually achievable within CMYK. Deactivate this setting when you strictly require pure spot color results. |
| Preferred spot colors | Lets you prioritize one or more specific spot colors in the search results. This option is useful if your workflow requires certain brand or house colors to be favored over technically better (lower DeltaE) matches. For example, you can ensure that a defined corporate spot color is always suggested first, even if another spot color would produce a slightly smaller color difference. |
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