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SMS for design and advertising Getting started with SMS colours SMS BLOCKS Cost of ownership

SMS for print Printers (in all categories) SMS READY - or not?

Cost of ownership - the Spot Matching System

In this section we are going to talk about the COST of using the Spot Matching System for professional purposes, to give brands/companies and Designers an idea and compare it to the actual current and future cost of using other colour matching systems, that they have gotten used to using in the past decades.

Each Designer knows approx. how much time he or she spends - looking for colours for each new media, going to press checks and discounts given when mistakes are made and the customer is not happy with the result. In addition there is the cost of buying new, printed colour guides, preferably each year so you can actually see or show what the ACTUAL colour should look like in print.

The Spot Matching System is set up from the get go to avoid most of this cost.

The SMS colours are simply LAB values and it is always the same LAB value regardless of media that you want. They are available in their original colours for web, TV and process (CMYK) printing to ISO 12647 standards - which is the universal standard for printing in colour, used around the world by offset and digital printshops.

The only thing a Designer has to worry about is whether the colour is correctly reproduced in Print or for textile - or whatever. He or she should never have to worry about whether he or she (or the agency) has to suffer financially if the colour is incorrectly reproduced.

To check the output - i.e. printed colours, it is best to measure the SMS colours ini the layout with a spectral measurement device - which we can offer our customers for as little as EUR 599 if needed (see www.spot-nordic.com/qc).

The target LAB value of any SMS colour can simply be checked in Photoshop - and additionally both the SMS Standard v6 and the SMS MAX v6 libraries are now built into the ColorMeter Exact app, so you don't even need to open Photoshop anymore.

The INPUT (i.e. what is sent to the Printer or Manufacturer) should always be perfect, - as long as authentic SMS colours, provided by Spot-Nordic, are used and if the user converts his or her SMS sRGB colours to the correct CMYK gamut using the simple step-by-step instructions provided for non-subscribers by Spot-Nordic.

Designers and anyone tasked with using SMS colours professionally furthermore have the option of doing our SMS READY Expert training - see www.spotmatchingsystem.com/experts.

So there is never any doubt what the SMS colour should look like - and what it's LAB value should be.

We consider this the main advantage of the Spot Matching System.

SMS users also have direct access to order SMS services for a fee, by contacting sms@spot-nordic.com.

Services are only available to registered users/brands (see brand license here below). To our knowledge, competing colour matching systems in the market do not offer such personalized colour services to most users.

We are going to set up a few examples for Designers in different categories and we will compare the estimated costs and benefits of subscribing customers to SMS v.s. not subscribing customers and simply buying what you need from Spot-Nordic.

In all cases it is necessary for SMS users to calibrate their displays and keep them correct. Screen calibrators are available from various vendors at prices as low as 3-400 Euros. The reason this is especially important in the case of SMS colours is that they are visually correct on most digital displays that are able to display sRGB colours - that covers most digital displays in the world.

The Home & Office colour palettes (released in 2025) actually only require displays capable of displaying approx. 60% of the sRGB colourspace - which is equal to approx. 45% of the NTSC colourspace. This colourspace is quite common on regular PC laptop displays.

There are 5 different SMS colour palettes available:

a) The SMS ECO version - a total of 1.738 colours. This colour palette was especially made for environmentally concious companies and institutions focused on minimizing their environmental footprint by using for instance recycled, uncoated paper for printing of their promotional material, while showing their true colours with the choice of their brand colours.

Apart from the environmental aspect (see www.spotmatchingsystem.com/environment), the ECO colours are the SMS colours that can be correctly reproduced for the biggest range of media, so there is almost no limit to where they can be correctly reproduced.

Colours available for web (at least 60% sRGB/45% NTSC), Television and CMYK printing on coated and uncoated paper from standard newspaper printing to printing on bright white (premium), coated paper to ISO 12647 standards.

b) The SMS Standard version - a total of 1.738 colours. Natural colours - the original SMS colour palette, presented in 2018.

Colours available for web (100% sRGB at least), Television and CMYK printing on white (premium), coated and uncoated paper to ISO 12647 standards.

c) The SMS Standard version, Home & Office - a total of 1.738 colours. Natural colours. Presented for the first time in 2025.

Colours available for web (at least 60% sRGB/45% NTSC), Television and CMYK printing on white (premium), coated and uncoated paper to ISO 12647 standards. Suited for brand owners that need as many people as possible to view their brand colours correctly on their displays.

d) The SMS MAX version - a total of 1.738 colours. The most vibrant colours in the SMS arsenal. Well suited for packaging brands that want to stand out.

Brands or companies/institutions that use the Standard version for general purposes can on special occasions of course choose to "boost" their SMS colours by replacing the Standard or ECO colours with MAX colours.

Colours available for web (100% sRGB at least), Television and CMYK printing on white, coated paper.

e) The SMS MAX version, Home & Office - a total of 1.738 colours. The most vibrant colours in the SMS arsenal. Well suited for packaging brands that want to stand out.

Brands or companies/institutions that use the Standard version for general purposes can on special occasions of course choose to "boost" their SMS colours by replacing the Standard or ECO colours with MAX colours.

Colours available for web (at least 60% sRGB/45% NTSC), Television and CMYK printing on white, coated paper.

The colours of the different SMS colour palettes are not the same, since these colour palettes are intended for different end uses. It is recommended not to mix them up within the same design to avoid problems, unless they are only meant for digital displays - web design, UI/game design etc.

It is easy for web designers to pick up the HEX code for each colour for web design in for instance Photoshop to apply them in any app that supports HEX codes to define colour.

1. Web Designers, Game Designers, UI Designers - anyone that only works in the RGB colourspace.

The only item this category of Designers need to invest in are the P20 sRGB colour palettes of the Spot Matching System of choice.

If another colour space or format (PNG, TIFF etc.) is required, please mention this when you order.

Contact sms@spot-nordic.com to order.

Total investment: EUR 90 per colour palette

2. Video Graphics, Cinema Graphics - REC. 0709/REC 2020 colour space

The only item this category of Designers need to invest in are the P20 sRGB or optionally REC. 709 colour palettes of the Spot Matching System - in PDF format - or another format if needed (PNG, TIFF etc.).

If another colour space or format (PNG, TIFF etc.) is required, please mention this when you order.

Contact sms@spot-nordic.com to order.

Total investment: EUR 90 per colour palette

3. Brands/Companies

Each brand or company that wishes to use SMS colours needs to buy a minimum of the SMS colour palette to be used for their promotion in P20 format.

Included with the purchase is a 12 month license to use any number of the SMS colours purchased for official promotion - as brand colours for one brand.

In other words, even if you decide not to subscribe, there is still an annual cost of a minimum of EUR 60 for any company or brand that wants to use SMS colours for their official promotion in the market and to have access to services by Spot-Nordic. Updates and upgrades to the SMS colour palette are included. Furthermore brand owners can request their SMS brand colours in Excel format with the respective HEX codes for use in Microsoft apps, such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint for in-house presentations. Furthermore we assist registered brands and SMS subscribers with assistance to select the right paint for their offices, should they choose to paint them in their respective SMS brand colours.

Registered brands should provide Spot-Nordic with a copy of all artwork in sRGB format - with the SMS colour cubes/patches included - see www.spotmatchingsystem.com/gettingstarted which will enable Spot-Nordic to confirm the SMS colours of the brand owner on request, when needed. 

OPTION: P10 - SMS custom colour(s): Logo or layout page converted to SMS colours suited for web, TV and standard printing to universal standards such as Fogra or GRACOL/G7.  

Instead of buying a P20 colour palette with all SMS colours, set up all current brand colours with your comments and preferably special names for each colour. Make sure to include all individual colour patches within the layout.

- like this - side by side, so we see clearly which colours we are dealing with.

Feel free to include within the layout all variations of the respective logo in their sRGB version. If the colours have a custom name, please write that onto the colour patches, if you would like to continue to use those names for your colours after the switch to SMS.

This is the easiest way to go if you or your customer is unhappy with constant colour fluctuations of the old brand colours in the different media and you would like to switch to the stability of SMS colours instead without doing a complete rebranding.

Send the page to sms@spot-nordic.com in PDF format

You can either use the SMS logo we deliver to you as they are within your layout in their bitmap format - or use the new SMS colours to create a fresh logo - simply replace the old colours with new new SMS colours, colour by colour (recommended).

The cost of the P10 service is EUR 140 per layout per brand.

Contact sms@spot-nordic.com to order.

Total investment:

EUR 90 per colour palette per brand for the first year of official usage + EUR 60 pr. year after the first 12 months*.

or

EUR 140 per layout per brand for the first year of official usage + EUR 60 pr. year after the first 12 months.

*Each P20 palette includes a license for official use of the SMS colours of the palette for one brand only for 12 months and access to technical support and services by Spot-Nordic during the license period.

If you would like to have access to services by Spot-Nordic during the license period, please send copy of the brand artwork to sms@spot-nordic.com with the SMS colour patches included - see here. This will enable Spot-Nordic to confirm the accuracy of SMS colours of the brand at any time during the license period, if needed, while serving as a backup to ensure that SMS brand colours don't get lost.

Furthermore, registered brands can request a free copy of the HEX values of their SMS brand colours in Excel format for creating in-house documents - Word, Excel or Powerpoint presentations.

Updates and upgrades to the colour palette as well as special offers and announcements of SMS READY products and companies are available to registered users/brands via our mailing list.

After the first 12 months, each brand license can be renewed for another 12 months for EUR 60.

Additional brand licenses using the same SMS colour palette can furthermore be purchased for EUR 60 each pr. year.

For non-commercial use or random technical use (layout work for 3rd party etc.), a renewal of the license in not required. 

To familiarize yourself with how to use SMS colours in Design, please refer to our Getting Started section.

To view our complete range of products and services - including our all-included SMS subscription option for brands/companies, design agencies and print shops, refer to our service section.

Contact sms@spot-nordic.com if you have any questions. We are here to help.

If you are a Designer in another category than the ones we listed here above, don't hesitate to contact us anyway. We are adding new categories to our system as we speak and you may just be able to help us out and give us the next great idea. 

SMS colours can already be reproduced for textile, plastics, 3D printing and paint by SMS READY manufacturers. 

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We welcome you to visit the SMS shop to subscribe to SMS or buy SMS products.

Start by creating your account whether you prefer to subscribe or not. 

Contact sms@spot-nordic.com for ordering services or SMS products. Please include your customer ID.