Thanks for weighing in, James. My proof approval sheet (the one I give my clients to sign off before going to press) actually has a disclaimer that reads: "This proof is not submitted for color accuracy, print quality or paper approval."

I think all designers should get chummy with their pre-press guy (or gal). For one, pre-press folks like you will tell us exactly how you want us to prepare the file. My repeat client becomes your repeat client, so you want the job to come out looking good as much as we do.

Hello James,
You mention label work. Do you do prepress for narrow-web flexo?

Unfortunately, Adobe has some anoying problems with CS and color management.
For one thing, the Pantone-to-CMYK conversion tables are different in Illustrator than
in Photoshop. So if you convert a Pantone color to CMYK in Photoshop, and convert
the same color in Illustrator, they'll come out different!!!!!!

And Illustrator CS uses different tables from Illustrator 10 and Illustrator 8, so colors
can change between versions of Illustrator.

Our solution is to go by the numbers, and define the colors based on the numbers from
the Pantone Solid-to-Process book. (These days, we trust Pantone more than we do
Adobe.)

"Also I am going to be making the final file, for print from Illustrator. What is the proper way to prepare this file so that it prints the Pantone colors correctly (and by correct I mean that I want it to look like the colors from the swatch book) Also what file format is appropriate to take to the printers? "

If they were sending me a vector file, I'd usually would tell a designer that they should save it as an EPS format. I'd also recommend that all type be converted into outlines to avoid any font issues. In your case I'd also convert the colors that really have to match into spot color. You do that by double clicking on the individual color swatch in the swatch palette. You'll then get the color swatch dialog box. There you'll write in the name of the pantone color you want and then use the pull down menu under the name to change it from process color to spot. Once you do this the color swatch in the swatch palette will change and have a white triangle in the corner with a black dot in it. That means that it is now a spot color.

Things to watch out for: make sure that you selected all the colors that are currently using that color or change them to this spot afterwards using the select same color menu command. Otherwise you might end up making a swatch that isn't really in use any where in your document.

How much of the job are you doing in Photoshop? How many colors are in the Photoshop file?

It *is* possible to use spot colors in Photoshop, by using spot color channels, but can be kind
of tricky if you have to deal with trapping, etc.
if the Photoshop image is to be printed all one color, you can set it up as a "Monotone" of
that color (go to Mode, Duotone, and choose Monotone, and apply the particular spot color).
Once that's done, it will separate out to the correct spot color plate. (That is, as long as the
color names are EXACTLY the same in the Photoshop and Illustrator files.)

Do you know who is doing the actual printing? It might be wise to consult with the printer's
prepress department

there are many Pantone books -- are you talking about a solid color book or a CMYK book? exactly what is the name of the book you are using?