Where Are the Pantone Colors in Adobe Illustrator?

this tutorial will show you how to load pantone swatches into your adobe illustrator workspace, including paper (coated, uncoated, etc) and cotton (tcx/tpx) books. this is a great way to simulate fabrics for your clothing line in illustrator.

Q: Where do I find the pantone colors in Illustrator? A: It depends on the pantone book I use.

You are reading: Illustrator pantone color books

If you need to work with any of the print or paper books, you can find all those colors in less than 30 seconds and I’ll show you how.

but if you need to work with pantone fashion + home cotton books, any of the tpx/tcx colors, it takes a little time to set up. but don’t worry, I’ll show you how to do it too.

load default pantone books/libraries in illustrator

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this method works with any of the following paper books: cmyk coated/uncoated, color bridge coated/uncoated, metallic coated, pastels & coated/uncoated neons, coated premium metallics, coated/uncoated solids

1. From the Swatches Panel (Window > Swatches), open the drop down menu and choose Open Swatch Library > Color Books > to find and load the Pantone book you need.
2. From the Pantone swatch panel you just loaded, you will want to make sure Show Find Field is checked. This will allow you to search for your specific Pantone code via the search field and will save you from the tedious process of manually finding your color.
3. You might also want to change your view to Thumbnail or List
4. Bonus Tip: Choose “Persistent” if you want this swatch panel to launch every time you open Illustrator.

So, that was pretty easy, right? you now have all the swatches from that book available to use directly in your designs.

but where are the tcx/tpx colors from the pantone fashion + home cotton book?

Unfortunately, these libraries are not included in Illustrator. and if you dedicate yourself to fashion, these are the books you need. but read on, because there are 2 solutions for this.

solution 1: convert tcx/tpx code to pantone paper code

tip: this is quick if you only need to convert 1 color, but if you’re going to be doing it a lot, I recommend solution 2.

You can quickly convert the tcx/tpx codes to a paper code using the pantone converter. once you’re there, follow these three steps:

1. select the book you are starting with (in this example I chose the pantone fashion + home cotton book)
2. select the exact color you want to convert (in this example I chose 14 – 1064 tcx)
3. select the book you want to convert to (in this example I chose the solid liner formula guide)

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This will then show you the closest color match from that book, which you can find in the default Illustrator Pantone color libraries.

solution 2: download pantone color manager software and load tcx/tpx library in illustrator

This process requires a few steps, but you only have to set it up once and you’re good to go. if you use these colors a lot, I recommend setting it instead of using the converter over and over again, which is not very convenient for a long-term solution.

This is what you need to do:

1. If you have a current / new Pantone textile book, you are entitled to a free download of the Pantone Color Manager Software which includes the TCX / TPX Illustrator swatch library. You’ll need to register your product here – and if you need more support there are specific instructions here.
2. If your Pantone textile book is outdated, you’ll have to buy the Pantone Color Manager Software ($49 USD as of writing this – and make sure to choose “Download” unless you want to receive a CD, because the product defaults to “CD-ROM”).
3. Once you’ve downloaded the Pantone Color Manager Software (whether for free or paid) and restarted your computer, you can export specific libraries (such as the Pantone Fashion + Home Cotton one) and load them into Illustrator (make sure Illustrator is not open while you export). If you get an error (I did!), here is a workaround that you can use.
4. If it you didn’t have to use the workaround, the Pantone library should automatically be available in Illustrator off the Swatch Library drop down as shown below (and remember to show the Find Field!).
5. If you did have to use the workaround, you’ll actually be saving the TCX / TPX library to your computer – in which case you’ll want to make sure you save it in the right spot so it’s easy to access all the time (and make sure you save the right file type!). When you choose File > Save As… from the Pantone Color Manager Software, the Save dialog box will open. Follow these instructions:
   1. Save the library in your Swatches folder. On a Mac, it’s located in your HD Applications Adobe Illustrator Presets en_US Swatches (as illustrated below). On a PC it’s located C: Users <username> AppData Roaming Adobe Adobe Illustrator Presets en_US Swatches.
   2. Make sure to choose Adobe Swatch Exchange (ase) from the File Type drop down.

   once you’ve done that and saved it directly to the swatches folder, you can access it directly from the swatches panel dropdown menu.

   and now it’s time to celebrate

   great! Grab your favorite beverage and celebrate that you now have Pantone TCX swatches available to use in your designs; they will be there every time you start illustrator from now on. wow!

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