Pantone is an ink the public domain standard would be cmyk. If you get five printers and ask them all to print C:11,Y:22,M:33,K:44 you get five different colou

Pantone is an ink the public domain standard would be cmyk. If you get five printers and ask them all to print C:11,Y:22,M:33,K:44 you get five different colours as each will have to mix their cmyk inks to get that colour. Pantone is a spot colour that means you can buy a pot of ink thats Pantone 123 there is no mixing so the colour is always the same. If you want to print on glossy paper thats going to change the look of the colour so Pantone also do inks for each surface you want to print on, they also do dyes for plastics and clothes etc. Edit: The difference between the five printers would be insignificant but if you are a designer or want your logo to look exactly the same on stand ups, pamphlet, business cards etc you would use a spot colour.