What does it mean when printers have told me my colour is not a Pantone colour, but in my file it is?

Question

I've recently designed a cosmetic label for a client and I've given them the final file to have it printed at their designated printer companies.But a few have them have come back and said that they can't print it because the colour isn't a Pantone when in fact, on my Illustrator file I clearly picked a Pantone colour because on my colour swatch, it says "Pantone 649U". Does anyone know why they might be saying that? Is it just me or have I done my file wrongly? I'm so positive that I've used a Pantone colour because the usual printer company I go to have managed to print it true to colour when I tested it but every time my client gets back to me about one of her printers, it's either the colour comes out so neon or it's a completely different colour or they just say they can't print it because it's "not a Pantone" colour. If anyone could shed some light as to what I'm doing wrong, that would be great!

Answer 1

You

 

TUTOR

 Since you have a design for a label, the most likely problem is that the printer needs a Pantone Spot color referred to as a "Solid" That is because labels may be printed on plastic, foil or other materials that the usual CMYK inks will not adhere to or print properly. A spot color represents a special type of ink that will work with the printer's specific process. In Adobe Illustrator, To add a spot color to your swatches, click the Swatches Panel menu and select Open Swatch Library > Color Books > Pantone > ( and then you can select for uncoated, coated, etc.) So if the printer will cooperate and answer questions, you may ask what material they print on, or which type of Pantone Solid color type they typically use.