What is the difference between Pantone and CMYK?

Answer 1

First of all, Pantone is the brand name of an organization that released an international color standard. You are probably referring to the difference between spot colors and CMYK since most artists are referring to spot colors when referencing Pantone.


PANTONE
A Pantone Spot Color is a pre-mixed ink color that adheres strictly to the international standard for that color. Ink manufacturers cater these inks to exact specs and send them to printing companies on-demand. The press operators can then drop the custom ink into the press and out comes the color.


CMYK
The most common form of printing uses 4 ink colors arranged in an intricate pattern of dots to generate colorful images. If you open up your inkjet printer you should be able to see those same colors on your ink cartridges. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black; otherwise referred to as CMYK. These are called process colors and are often seen in commercial printing. For most print applications, this form of printing is sufficient. However, there are limitations. 1) The color gamut is relatively narrow in certain areas such as blue and fluorescent colors. 2) If a precise color needs to be matched, the printer would opt for a spot color. 3) Lighter colors such as gray will show the dots when viewed up close. A spot color can print 100% solid.
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Answer 2

In offset printing realistic, full color printing is achieved by printing 4 basic colors, cyan, magenta, yellow and black, thus the CMY. K stands for black, the black plate usually contains the most information and is therefore referred to as the Key plate. Also other colors besides black begin with B, K is used to avoid confusion. Pantone colors are the industry standard for color consistency and are used in what is called spot color printing. If you want a specific shade of blue, for example, you can look through a Pantone swatch book, find the shade you want, and the printed result will match that color. So much about color is subjective, what one person sees as green, another sees turquoise, Pantone eliminates all of the confusion with their color matching system.