How To Find Pantone Colors In Illustrator (Install Pantone Connect)

Okay, real talk: when Adobe yanked the Pantone Color Books from Illustrator (starting with version 28.0), I felt like someone had just deleted my favorite fonts folder. You open up Illustrator, head over to Swatch Libraries > Color Books, and… nothing. Just a big ol’ void where your Pantone+ Solid Coated used to live.

If you’re here wondering:

• “How do I get Pantone colors back in Illustrator 2024?”
• “Where did the Pantone swatches go?”
• “Is there still a way to find Pantone in Adobe Illustrator without paying extra?”

…you’re not alone. And yes, there is a way.

This post walks you through everything step-by-step—from installing the Pantone Connect plugin (spoiler: it’s limited unless you pay) to a little-known workaround where you copy Pantone color books from older Illustrator versions into your latest one. Yep. Manual. But it works.

I’ve also covered how to:

• Install Pantone swatches manually in Illustrator
• Find Pantone libraries when Pantone Connect isn’t working
• And how to make Illustrator behave like the good old days (almost)

Once you’ve got the Pantone colors back in your Illustrator, you’ll probably want to convert your CMYK colors to Pantone for print jobs. I made a super quick guide on that too:
👉 How To Convert CMYK To Pantone In Illustrator

So, if you’ve been Googling around for “how to find Pantone color in Illustrator 2024 without plugin” or you’re just frustrated with the missing swatches—take a breath. You’ve got options. And I’ll walk you through it.

By default, any Illustrator file will either be in the RGB or CMYK color mode. Any CMYK or RGB color depends on your monitor or printer depending on your RGB and CMYK values. But there isn’t any “Pantone colour mode”.

Pantone came up with the Pantone Matching System (PMS) to standardize and maintain color consistency or match colors when a design enters the preview and production stage, regardless of the equipment used to produce the color.

Pantone is not part of Adobe and it’s a separate entity altogether.

How To Find Pantone Color In Illustrator

Even without all the Pantone Color Books available in Illustrator, you can still find Pantone Colors in Illustrator. To do that, you will need to install a plugin called Pantone Connect via Adobe Creative Cloud.

Pantone Connect is free only for limited functions:

1. Search
2. Pick any 15,000 Colors
3. See Pantone Color Reference Number
4. Measure
5. Up to 10 Palettes
6. Unlimited Share

If you need anything else such as extracting colors, analyzing colors, and converting them, you will have to pay US$20.99 per month or US$125.99 per year.

How Do I Use Pantone Connect?

To use Pantone Connect, first, you will have to quit all Adobe programs. Next, your desktop has to be logged in to Creative Cloud. Click on the Creative Cloud icon on the top menu bar if you are on a Mac, or open your Creative Cloud platform if you are on Windows. Then, select Stock & Marketplace.

Under Search, All Plugins on the left sidebar, type in Pantone Connect to search for the plugin. Then, click the button that says “Get” on the Pantone Connect box. This will start the installation process.

Reopen your Adobe Illustrator. Select Window > Extensions and you will see Pantone Connect as an option.

Select Pantone Connect and the Pantone Connect window opens up. Sign up for an account and you are ready to use it.

How To Reinstall Pantone Colors in Illustrator?

Pantone color books have been removed from Adobe Illustrator between 2022 and 2023. I know, you used to be able to find them via Window > Swatch Libraries > Other Library… But now they have disappeared.

If you are using Adobe Illustrator v28.0, you will not be able to find any Pantone color books.

Before you can do that, you will have to install Pantone color files to your latest Illustrator version. Without those files, you won’t be able to find the colors within your Illustrator app.

Note: I’m using MacBook Pro macOS Ventura Version 13.5 with Adobe Illustrator 2023 Version 28.0.

Here are the steps:

Step 1: Install Older Illustrator Version

The first step is to launch Adobe Creative Cloud app on your computer.

Navigate to the All Apps section.

Go to the Installed section and you will most likely find only one Illustrator version. Go to the right-hand side of the column and select the three dots.

Select the Other Versions option in the drop-down menu.

A pop-up will show all the current and past versions available for download.

Go to the earlier version and select the Install button on the right-hand side.

Wait for a few minutes for the installation to complete.

In this example, I’ve installed Illustrator v27.0, one of the earlier Adobe Illustrator 2023 versions.

Step 2: Copy Pantone Files

Go to your Applications folder in Mac or Downloads folder in Windows.

Select the Illustrator version folder you’ve just installed. Select the Presets folder. Then, select the language folder and then, select the Swatches folder. Next, select the Color Books folder.

In my example, I have selected Adobe Illustrator 2022 > Presets > en_US > Swatches > Color Books.

You will see at least 5 Pantone files:

• PANTONE+ CMYK Coated
• PANTONE+ CMYK Uncoated
• PANTONE+ Metallic Coated
• PANTONE+ Solid Coated
• PANTONE+ Solid Uncoated

Select these 5 files and copy them by doing a right-click with your cursor, and selecting Copy in the drop-down menu.

Step 3: Paste Pantone Files

With the Pantone color files in your clipboard, go to the Applications or Downloads folder, and select the latest Adobe Illustrator folder. In my example, that would be the Adobe Illustrator 2024 folder.

Then similarly to Step 2, go to Adobe Illustrator 2024 > Presets > en_US > Swatches > Color Books.

Paste the Pantone files you’ve just copied into this folder.

Quit Illustrator and reopen it.

In the next section, you will learn various methods on how to find the Pantone Color you want in Illustrator.

How to Find Pantone Color in Older Illustrator Versions

The best way to find the Pantone Color of your object in Adobe Illustrator is to first open your object in Illustrator. Then, click on one area of your object to select it. Next, go to the top menu and select Window > Swatches.

In the Color Swatches, you will see a color square bar selected. Bring your cursor over it and you will see the Pantone color code of your object area, for example Pantone P Process Black C.

Here are the various methods to find Pantone color, or you can also convert CMYK to Pantone in Illustrator:

Method 1: Top Menu

At the Top Menu, select Window, scroll down to select Swatch Libraries, then select Color Books, and select any of the Pantone color guides:

Window > Swatch Libraries > Color Books > Pantone Color Books

Note: This will work whether or not your artboard is visible or hidden.

Method 2: the Swatches Panel

Open the Swatches Panel by going to the Top Menu, and select Window > Swatches. This opens up the Swatches Panel.

Then, on the Swatches Panel, you will see an icon with 3 lines in the top right-hand corner. That is the Swatches options menu. Select that and a dropdown menu appears. Select open swatch library > color books. This is where Illustrator stores different color libraries including the Pantone color libraries. Select any of the Pantone Color Books based on the Pantone color system.

Method 3: the Swatch Libraries Menu

First, open the Swatches Panel by selecting Window > Swatches from the Top Menu. Then, select the Swatch Libraries menu in the bottom left corner of the panel.

This opens up a dropdown menu where you can select Color Books, which opens up another dropdown menu. Select your desired Pantone Color Book.

Method 4: Use the Search Function

This could be one of the best ways to find Pantone Color in Illustrator. Simply select Help on the Top Menu. Enter “Pantone” in the search bar. Then select any of the options and the dropdown menu opens up to show you where you can find the item in the menu.

Frequently Asked Questions

After you have found the Pantone Color Books, select any of the following options which are still available up to Illustrator version 27.0:

• PANTONE+ CMYK Coated
• PANTONE+ CMYK Uncoated
• PANTONE+ Metallic Coated
• PANTONE+ Solid Coated
• PANTONE+ Solid Uncoated

My projects usually require Pantone Solid Coated and Pantone Solid Uncoated. You will select any of the books based on your printer’s requirements. For any options selected, a new color swatch window with a set of Pantone palettes opens up.

Suppose you need other colors from other Pantone Color Books. In that case, you can choose the Swatch Libraries Menu of the Pantone swatch panel, then, select Color Books from the dropdown menu and select another Pantone Color Book.

You will now see two Pantone Swatch Panels.

If you have a specific Pantone color code, enter that into the search bar on the Pantone swatch palette.

This will filter the color you are looking for out of the various colors you see on the Pantone color palette. Otherwise, you can browse all the color options you see in the Pantone swatches.

You can use the color you desire by selecting your artwork and choosing the Pantone Color directly from the Pantone palette.

Your artwork will change into the selected color and the selected Pantone color will appear in the Swatches Panel to be saved for future use.

You can also save the color in the Swatches panel first by selecting the color on the Pantone color swatches.

The selected color will appear in the Swatches Panel, and you can select your artwork and select the Pantone color from the Swatches Panel.