New Pantone colours: 224 shades join the Matching System

24 September 2026: Pantone has added 224 new Pantone colours to the Pantone Matching System, according to an official launch dated 16 September 2026. The shades are in the Formula Guide, Color Bridge and Solid Chips Set, and in Pantone Connect, so printers and converters can specify louder palettes against a production reference.

What changed in the Pantone Matching System

The company’s 2026 new colours page says the latest Formula Guide carries 2,614 spot colours in the Pantone Graphics system, shown on coated and uncoated paper. That is the count to use for PMS print work. A round “nearly 9,000” library total does not appear on those launch pages, while Pantone Connect is sold separately as access to more than 15,000 colours across several Pantone libraries.

Pantone calls the 224 additions “human-generated” shades, from citrus yellows through to purples, for brands that want punchier packs and graphics. What a pressroom receives is extra PMS numbers, with mixing formulas in the Formula Guide and CMYK, HTML and RGB conversions in Color Bridge. 

How printers get the new Pantone colours

Shops already know the tools. Formula Guide remains the fan deck with ink formulas. Open Color Bridge when the job will print as process colour rather than a true extra spot. Solid Chips is the perforated-chip format people clip to a job bag, on coated and uncoated stock.

For a limited time, Pantone is selling supplements so plants that already own those books can add the new pages instead of replacing the whole set. The shop lists a Formula Guide Supplement, a Color Bridge Guide Supplement, and Solid Chips Supplement Pages, each on coated and uncoated paper.

The same colours are in Pantone Connect and the Pantone Connect extension for Adobe Creative Cloud. Pantone says that extension works in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Connect is a different product from PantoneLIVE digital libraries, but the intent is similar: put a production-ready Pantone reference in the file before anyone mixes ink.

A longer chip book will not save a job if the press cannot hold the spec. X-Rite Pantone has been selling connected scanning and ink presetting for offset press colour control on machines plants already own.

Ink rooms chasing brand shades from leftover pots face the same bottleneck. Tools such as Flint Group’s digital colour matching software exist because a PMS number on a page is only the start of a match.

Trend palettes behind the launch

Pantone grouped sample combinations into four palettes: Desire for Pleasure, Desire for the Exquisite, Oxygenating, and Beyond Boundaries. Some of those stories are credited to PANTONEVIEW Colour Planner for Autumn/Winter 2026/2027 (Desire) and Spring/Summer 2027 (Escape). 

FAQs

How many new Pantone colours were added?

Pantone added 224 colours to the Pantone Matching System. The updated Formula Guide lists 2,614 Graphics spot colours. Pantone’s palette article for the launch is dated 16 September 2026.

Do existing Formula Guide owners need a full new set?

Not if they buy the limited-time supplements. Pantone is offering Formula Guide, Color Bridge and Solid Chips page supplements on coated and uncoated stock and the colours are also in Pantone Connect.