The DTP world is essentially a world at 4 colour… plus spots here and there.

Spot Colour: Spot colours are those which are obtained with a specially mixed ink, instead of being formed by CMYK colours. Through the use of spot colours you can achieve consistency throughout publications linked by the same branding, or use colours which are not achievable by using the CMYK method, such as a metallic silver colour.

Spot colours can be used to also create pubblications which only use 2 or 3 colours thus resulting in money savings. The most used matching system for spot colours is Pantone’s, though there are many others.