Seeking pantone-matched acrylic

[FlorenceC]

Hi Folks,
Can anyone here recommend a place for pantone-matched acrylic sheets in Canada? I'm near Toronto, if that helps. 1/8-3/8" thickness ideally, 4x8'? Customer is asking for this specifically and I'm at a loss as far as where to go. No immediate results are coming up when I check with my existing vendors and tbh i had not heard of pantone-matching acrylic previously (i would personally just run what they're asking for on vinyl).

 

[CanuckSigns]

I've also never heard of Pantone matched acrylic, the colours are very basic (white, black, red, blue, yellow) and vary between manufacturers. I'm sure they will make you whatever colour you want if you commit to buying 10 skids of the stuff and can wait for 6 months.

Sounds like a case of the client doesn't know what they are talking about.

 

[White Haus]

What is the end use? I mean you could get white acrylic and paint it to match any pantone you want. Or order it from Gemini if you don't have those capabilities.

 

[signheremd]

Professional Plastics offers a Pantone color chart with plexiglass matches - www.professionalplastics.com
ePlastics offers a color matching chart www.eplastics.com
and signumlux.com
And you can always use clear and paint the backside, coat with vinyl, etc...

Hope that helps somewhat. I would start with the pantone color you need to match and see if it close to a plexi color first.

 

[FlorenceC]

The client insists they have done pantone-matched acrylic signage before and made it sound like it was easy - I don't have any record of that in our archives and they did not provide a photo example.
For us to order such a specific colour (if we could find it), I'm sure it would be quite pricey and, as CanuckSigns says we'd likely be stuck for a large volume. I agree completely, we ought to just print the colour we want, be it a reverse print on the back of clear acrylic, with transparent print on top, or just straight printing to opaque vinyl applied to the surface of whatever substrate they go with.

The greater context/end use is these are relatively small instructional signs meant to last for many years for entry/egress. There's 12pt text and some photos on it. Client has asked for options on alupanel (which is my preference, for overall look + durability), but also seeking options on the colour-matched acrylic, which I said I would investigate.

 

[a77]

If you did it like you said, 2nd surface on clear, it would look amazing.
You could print a small test swatch and give them the test piece and let them choose the exact one. Print their pantone and a few 'neighbouring' colours. They will love it.

 

[Inks]

Carefull which paint you use as amines and most solvents craze acrylic

 

[rossmosh]

Gemini and companies like that will paint acrylic whatever color you want.

 

[FlorenceC]

Carefull which paint you use as amines and most solvents craze acrylic

Can you suggest which paint would avoid this amine issue? Would an acrylic based paint get around this problem?

 

[spectrum maine]

matthews paint on the back of clear- done

 

[Inks]

matthews paint on the back of clear- done

I am curious, how well does the mathews paint match pms on clear stock? the pms system is based on a white background. I am not disputing if it works or not as i have no experience with their paint. Do you make an opaque colour closest to the pms#?

 

[spectrum maine]

if you are working on that exacting parameters...paint 3 coats then back with white. depending on the transparency of the matthews...which varies
i am talking painting the inside of the plastic

 

[spectrum maine]

matthews can be mixed by certain suppliers to pms specs. You can get any auto paint mixed to match as long as you have a color chip. they have a spectrometer gun to read the chip. many auto paint stores will even put it in a spraycan which is handy

 

[Inks]

matthews can be mixed by certain suppliers to pms specs. You can get any auto paint mixed to match as long as you have a color chip. they have a spectrometer gun to read the chip. many auto paint stores will even put it in a spraycan which is handy

Thanks for clarifying. Most coatings can be matched to pms with a white background. Most likely a spectrophotometer will not be necessary and a side by side approval of a sample would be sufficient. Good info from you, thanks!

 

[gnubler]

I went to a national brand paint store with a Pantone swatch and the salesperson actually said "Good luck with that" and another store couldn't get a match when they scanned my swatch. This was a shade of blue, so the color might matter.

 

[Inks]

I went to a national brand paint store with a Pantone swatch and the salesperson actually said "Good luck with that" and another store couldn't get a match when they scanned my swatch. This was a shade of blue, so the color might matter.

A screen printing ink manufacturer can match it for you. Tell them you are spraying it or whatever way you are applying and they will match it thinned appropriately for the process.

 

[johnnysigns]

Acrilex will also make custom colors, but honestly it's going to cost a fortune. Paint or back printed clear is the way to go.