CTAN update: spotxcolor
Date: March 19, 2026 3:03:17 PM CET
Munehiro Yamamoto submitted an update to the
spotxcolor
package.
Version: 1.4 2026-03-17
License: lppl1.3c
Summary description: Modern spot color support for the xcolor package
Announcement text:
Changes since v1.0: - Fixed spot color output for \color, \textcolor, and \pagecolor. In v1.0, these commands fell back to CMYK values instead of producing true PDF Separation color space operators. As of v1.4, all standard xcolor commands — including tinted expressions like DIC161s!50 — correctly generate spot color output on all engines (pdfTeX, LuaTeX, XeTeX, and dvipdfmx). - Fixed spot color output for PGF/TikZ drawing commands. TikZ \fill, \draw, and low-level PGF color commands now produce spot color operators for both fill and stroke independently. - Fixed spot color output for PGF uncolored pattern fills. Hatching and dot patterns (both legacy `patterns` and modern `patterns.meta` libraries) now use a [/Pattern [/Separation ...]] color space, producing true spot color output in pattern fills. - Added user manual (spotxcolor.tex) with a feature/limitation summary table.
The package’s Catalogue entry can be viewed at https://ctan.org/pkg/spotxcolor The package’s files themselves can be inspected at https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/spotxcolor/
Thanks for the upload. For the CTAN Team Petra Rübe-Pugliese
CTAN is run entirely by volunteers and supported by TeX user groups. Please join a user group or donate to one, see https://ctan.org/lugs
Changes since v1.0: - Fixed spot color output for \color, \textcolor, and \pagecolor. In v1.0, these commands fell back to CMYK values instead of producing true PDF Separation color space operators. As of v1.4, all standard xcolor commands — including tinted expressions like DIC161s!50 — correctly generate spot color output on all engines (pdfTeX, LuaTeX, XeTeX, and dvipdfmx). - Fixed spot color output for PGF/TikZ drawing commands. TikZ \fill, \draw, and low-level PGF color commands now produce spot color operators for both fill and stroke independently. - Fixed spot color output for PGF uncolored pattern fills. Hatching and dot patterns (both legacy `patterns` and modern `patterns.meta` libraries) now use a [/Pattern [/Separation ...]] color space, producing true spot color output in pattern fills. - Added user manual (spotxcolor.tex) with a feature/limitation summary table.
The package’s Catalogue entry can be viewed at https://ctan.org/pkg/spotxcolor The package’s files themselves can be inspected at https://mirrors.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/spotxcolor/
Thanks for the upload. For the CTAN Team Petra Rübe-Pugliese
CTAN is run entirely by volunteers and supported by TeX user groups. Please join a user group or donate to one, see https://ctan.org/lugs
spotxcolor – Modern spot color support for the xcolor package
This package provides robust spot color (e.g., DIC, PANTONE) support for the xcolor package across all major TeX engines. It resolves structural PDF issues found in the legacy spotcolor package and provides an explicit fallback mechanism for dvipdfmx (which is not fully supported by the colorspace package).
Supported major drivers: pdftex,
luatex, dvipdfmx (including
ptex/uptex), xetex.
| Package | spotxcolor |
| Version | 1.4 2026-03-17 |
| Copyright | 2026 Munehiro Yamamoto |
| Maintainer | Munehiro Yamamoto |