Metal Packaging Color Libraries

Sun Chemical and X-Rite Incorporated announce new metal packaging color libraries in the PantoneLIVE digital color ecosystem. Designed for the beverage sector, these libraries enable accurate visualization and communication of Pantone and brand colors on two-piece aluminum cans with metal deco inks in a matte finish. This improves color predictability and consistency from design to shelf, helping brands and suppliers maintain brand colors across substrates and finishes.

Available through the PantoneLIVE Production – Print and Packaging subscription, the libraries support aluminum beverage can production using both opaque and transparent inks for a matte effect. As demand for matte varnishes in metal packaging grows, this update provides customers with access to PantoneLIVE libraries for both gloss and matte finishes, enabling brand owners, converters, and can makers to select achievable, production-ready colors for a variety of finishes on two-piece aluminum cans.

With over 4,000 color options, the expanded libraries extend PantoneLIVE’s support for metal packaging and metal decoration across a wide range of applications, including two-piece cans, monobloc aerosols, aluminum collapsible tubes, cartridges, and felt pen cases. Brands and their supply chain partners can streamline color development, reduce guesswork and rework, and ensure reliable, repeatable results across various metal formats and finishes.

“By tapping into PantoneLIVE’s extensive library of validated Pantone colors specifically developed for metal deco inks, brands and their aluminum packaging suppliers can avoid time-consuming and costly custom color development,” says Eduardo Alegria, Global Champion Metal Deco Inks, Sun Chemical. “This minimizes delays, reworks, and ink lay down trials during new design production runs, resulting in a more consistent, efficient, and sustainable packaging workflow.”

Color Measurement Solutions for Metal Packaging 

PantoneLIVE integrates with X-Rite’s portfolio of software and hardware solutions, including ColorCert, Color iQC, Autura Ink, MeasureColor, the Ci64 handheld spectrophotometer, and NetProfiler for a connected and measurable approach to digital color management. An end-to-end color management workflow helps brands, packaging printers, and manufacturers streamline color communication, enhancing design and print efficiency.

“As demand for metal packaging grows, it’s important to manage color expectations early in the design phase,” says Jason Campbell, Product Manager, X-Rite. “These new PantoneLIVE libraries combined with X-Rite measurement solutions give beverage companies and their suppliers the ability to preview and achieve consistent color across the full production chain, so the final product looks exactly as intended.” 

For more information on digital color workflow solutions for metal packaging manufacturers, visit https://www.xrite.com/industry-solutions/print-packaging/metal-packaging-manufacturers.