Does stock colour affect the colour of letterpress Pantone inks?

Yes, it does!

• Pantone inks used in Letterpressing are translucent - you'll only get an super-close colour match to your chosen Pantone uncoated colour if you choose a white stock to print on.
• The change in colour is also hardly noticable on very pale coloured stocks.
• Our Pantone inks are mixed by hand, combining multiple colours to create the correct shade.
• Because Pantone inks are translucent, you can't use an ink lighter than your stock - the ink will just sink into the stock and either disappear, or leave just a 'shadow' in the impression on the card.
• Choosing stocks and Pantone inks in the same colour palette (green on green, blue on blue etc) works really well and can look stunning. It's also a bit easier to anticipate the final look.

This two colour (2PMS) design uses the same two inks (Pantone 346 and Orange 021) on different coloured stocks.

On a white stock the Pantone inks are a very close match. 

On the Terracotta stock, both colours are darker and the orange ink is more intense.

Top Tips from the Printery Peeps

• The easiest way to choose a Pantone colour is using our Paper Colour Values Chart. We keep this up-to-date with all our stocks so you can easily match or contrast with confidence. 
• You can also use a Pantone book. It must be the Pantone Solid Uncoated colours (PMS U) book. Pantone has many colour books for different applications like textiles or manufacturing - so it's essential that you use the right one!
• Don't reference CMYK or Hex codes - we can't match these to a Pantone for you.
• Remember that colours look very different from screen to screen. Computer screens display in RGB, so you'll get an idea, but not a match to the actual Pantone ink.