Pantone or PMS colors or "Mixed Inks" are a set of colors usually in a color book or chip format for each different style of printing or inks (ex: SWOP, COATED, UNCOATED, WEB, TOYO , etc..). By going by the mix recipe we can match an ink to a standard example or ink chart. Pantone colors are designated by a number instead of a name. Example Pantone 199 or PMS 199 as some people refer to them as is a red color ink. It is very similar to the example of paints in a hardware store. You look at paint chips and give the paint mixer the chip color number you want. The paint mixer then goes to a book and looks up what paints and how much of each paint he needs to mix together to achieve the color you want. Pantone comes up with the mixture recipes then distributes them in what are called Pantone Books or Chip Books. Since these colors have to be mixed color variation can occur if pieces are not printed at the same time. Example if you mix paint then paint a wall then go back for more paint, when it drys they might not match exactly. Mixed inks, although are more costly, give you a wider variety of different colors to choose from.