X-Rite Incorporated and Pantone LLC, global leaders in colour science and technology, have released PANTORA desktop application for the management of colour and appearance data in digital design and production workflows. PANTORA now connects with the Ci7000 Series, MA-T12, and MetaVue VS3200 spectrophotometers, enabling brands and suppliers to quickly capture or import spectral and appearance data into the application and create virtual material samples for paints, plastics, metals, fabrics, and meshes. Using PANTORA, customers can store, edit, and share digital material files using Appearance Exchange Format (AxF) files across product lifecycle management (PLM), CAD, and 3D rendering software.

The PANTORA desktop application simplifies the management of a large volume of complex colour and appearance data. It acts as the epicenter for appearance workflows connecting digital material capture sources with output destinations.

Users can now import a measured material sample or connect to an X-Rite spectrophotometer to measure a physical sample directly into PANTORA. For paint and coatings samples, the MA-T12 multi-angle spectrophotometer can measure and virtualize flake texture and colour flop. The Ci7000 series of benchtop sphere spectrophotometers capture transmission of colour on translucent materials and reflection colour common in plastics. For multi-spectral texture measurements, the MetaVue VS3200 non-contact imaging spectrophotometer captures the texture of leather, laminate and textile samples.

The PANTORA Material Browser locates, acquires, and imports the digital material data as an AxF file that accounts for appearance attributes such as colour, gloss, and texture. With the Material Viewer, companies can render the material in a virtual scene to see the effect of lighting, gloss levels, and special effect pigments. The new PANTORA Variant Editor enables suppliers to create large digital material libraries by combining sample attributes.