To access specific Pantone Colors in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign designers now need to use the Connect plugin. The experience is going to be less than stellar.
Pantone Color books were a set of Swatches that were a part of the Adobe color libraries. Now, Adobe has started removing them. Earlier in July, the company announced that Color Books will be accessible in phases followed by the software updates released on August 16, 2022. This change is marked with the changes in Pantone’s licensing with Adobe, in accordance with the FAQ of the said matter.
Additionally, this change will affect the projects having legacy swatches. Given this scenario, if you open Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign file that used a removed color, will be marked with black. Thus, restricting you to download the file until or unless you download the plugin to resolve the issue.
Among the Pantone Color Books Metallic Coated, CYMK uncoated, and CYMK coated will stay. While others have been removed. Furthermore, if you wish to access the complete library, you will be required to download Pantone Connect via Adobe Exchange.
As of now, we know that Pantone Connect is a login for Adobe. It works with Photoshop, InDesign, and Illustrator. To use it, you need to create a free account with Pantone. Given this you can gain access to 15,000 colors, as well as access to search, pick, and measure tools options. A monthly subscription of $15 adds a dozen more tools to the plugin. Whereas the Premium plans allow the users to save and share an unlimited range of palettes.