SOUTH NORMANTON, UK – 8 September 2025 – Sun Chemical and X-Rite Incorporated announce new metal packaging colour libraries in the PantoneLIVE™ digital colour ecosystem. Designed for the beverage sector, these libraries enable accurate visualisation and communication of Pantone and brand colours on two-piece aluminium cans with metal deco inks in a matte finish. This improves colour predictability and consistency from design to shelf, helping brands and suppliers maintain brand colours across substrates and finishes.
Available through the PantoneLIVE Production – Print and Packaging subscription, the new libraries support aluminium 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 confidently select achievable, production-ready colours for a variety of finishes on two-piece aluminium cans.
With over 4,000 colour 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, aluminium collapsible tubes, cartridges, and felt pen cases. Brands and their supply chain partners can streamline colour 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 colours specifically developed for metal deco inks, brands and their aluminium packaging suppliers can avoid time-consuming and costly custom colour development,” said Eduardo Alegria, Global Champion Metal Deco Inks, Sun Chemical. “This minimises delays, reworks, and ink laydown 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 colour management. An end-to-end colour management workflow helps brands, packaging printers, and manufacturers streamline colour communication, enhancing design and print efficiency.
“As demand for metal packaging grows, it’s important to manage colour expectations early in the design phase,” said 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 colour across the full production chain, so the final product looks exactly as intended.”
For more information on digital colour workflow solutions for metal packaging manufacturers, visit https://www.xrite.com/industry-solutions/print-packaging/metal-packaging-manufacturers.
