Hexachrome is a six-color printing process designed by
Pantone

Pantone Inc. In
addition to custom
CMYK

CMYK inks,
Hexachrome uses orange and green inks to
expand the color gamut for better color reproduction. It is therefore
also known as a CMYKOG process.
Hexachrome was discontinued by
Pantone

Pantone in 2008 when Adobe Systems
stopped supporting the HexWare plugin software. While the details of
Hexachrome were not secret, its use was limited by trademark and
patent to those obtaining a license from Pantone. The inventor of
Hexachrome is Richard Herbert, who is also the president of Pantone
Inc.[1]
Contents
1 Richard Herbert
2 Software
3 Purpose
4 Users
5 See also
6 External links
7 References
Richard Herbert[edit]
Richard Herbert is the COO and President of
Pantone

Pantone Inc.; these titles
were handed down by his father, Lawrence Herbert. After realizing that
graphics and printing would soon be completely taken over by
computers,[1] Richard obtained degrees in computer engineering and
business from Hofstra University, hoping to improve the digital
application and printing of color.[2] He was responsible for many
achievements of
Pantone

Pantone Inc.; such as digitizing the
Pantone

Pantone Matching
System and incorporating the print and display data from the
previously used
CMYK

CMYK model. Herbert continued to keep
Pantone

Pantone Inc. at
a high standing in the field of color communications, as its matching
system was used internationally.[2]
Software[edit]
In order to use the
Hexachrome process in a digital printing process,
Pantone

Pantone produced a plugin for
Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop that allowed the
designer to work in an
RGB

RGB color space more typical of computer
work.[3] The plug in was called HexWare, which contained a set of
Adobe plug-ins used by printers and designers who used the Hexachrome
system.[3] Older versions of
QuarkXPress

QuarkXPress and
Adobe InDesign

Adobe InDesign also came
with the
Hexachrome system already installed and enabled.[3]
Purpose[edit]
The main purpose of
Hexachrome was to create a printing ink system
that could depict brighter and clearer pictures by being able to
produce more accurate colors.[4] Using this system instead of the CMYK
ink system prints also allowed for more accurate skin tones and
pastels.[5] The
Hexachrome system let users print images from computer
screens that were not able to be accurately duplicated before.[5] As
well as producing overall better quality than previous systems,
Hexachrome also increased efficiency as it produced many more spot
colors.[4] Having more spot colors increased efficiency by allowing
the press to use one ink set for all jobs, rather than one specified
ink set for each job. Keeping a printer configured for
Hexachrome also
eliminated the number of washes required on the printer; therefore
saving times and simplifying printing production.[4]
Users[edit]
Some software companies that employed the
Hexachrome system were Aldus
(now Adobe), Adobe Photoshop, and QuarkXPress; as well as the printer
manufacturers HP, Epson, and Xerox.[1]
See also[edit]
CcMmYK color model
External links[edit]
U.S. Patent 5,734,800
Pantone

Pantone
Hexachrome patent announcement news release, May 26 1998
References[edit]
^ a b c Anchell, Steve. "The
Pantone

Pantone Story". Rangefinder Magazine.
Retrieved 1 March 2012.
^ a b "Richard Herbert". Electronic Publishing. Missing or empty
url= (help); access-date= requires url= (help)
^ a b c Reid, Dan. "
Hexachrome Printing". Digital Output. Retrieved 2
March 2012.
^ a b c Reid, Dan. "6 colors hits the spot". Missing or empty
url= (help); access-date= requires url= (help)
^ a b "An extreme color gamut can help". Retrieved 1 March 2012.
"An extreme color gamut can help". Retrieved 1 March 2012.
"
Pantone

Pantone Expands the Color Range With
Hexachrome System". Business
Source Complere (not publicly available). Missing or empty url=
(help); access-date= requires url= (help)
"
Hexachrome on web offset line".
Pantone

Pantone Inc. Missing or empty
url= (help); access-date= requires url= (help)
Anchell, Steve. "The
Pantone

Pantone Story". Rangefinder Magazine. Retrieved 1
March 2012.
Reid, Dan. "6 colors hits the spot". Missing or empty url=
(help); access-date= requires url= (help)
Reid, Dan. "
Hexachrome Printing". Digital Output. Retrieved 2 March
2012.
"Richard Herbert". Electronic Publishing. Missing or empty url=
(help); access-date= requires url= (help)
v
t
e
Color space
List of color spaces
Color models
CAM
CIECAM02
iCAM
CIE
CIEXYZ
CIELAB
CIECAM02
CIELUV
Yuv
CIEUVW
CIE RGB
RGB
RGB

RGB color space
sRGB
rg chromaticity
Adobe
Wide-gamut
ProPhoto
scRGB
DCI-P3
Rec. 709
Rec. 2020
Rec. 2100
YUV
YUV
PAL
YDbDr
SECAM
PAL-N
YIQ
NTSC
YCbCr
Rec. 601
Rec. 709
Rec. 2020
Rec. 2100
ICtCp
YPbPr
xvYCC
YCoCg
Other
CcMmYK
CMYK
Coloroid
LMS
Hexachrome
HSL, HSV
HCL
Imaginary color
OSA-UCS
PCCS
RG
RYB
Color systems
and standards
ACES
ANPA
Colour Index International
CI list of dyes
DIC
Federal Standard 595
HKS
ICC profile
ISCC–NBS
Munsell
NCS
Ostwald
Pantone
RAL
list
For the vision capacities of organisms or machines, see &