Color Reference Chart

[Barb]

In a former lifetime (job) I often worked with color references back and forth across the Atlantic. It struck me that this might be useful for folks here, so I went searching and found a color reference chart.

http://www.pensrus.com/online_color_chart_allpms.html

Sometimes a color description doesn't do quite enough.

There will still be differences on computer monitors and it isn't the same as having a swatch book, but..

 

[dnjan]

Great! Twelve different ones called black, and a bunch of others that sure look like black to me!

Things were so much easier when crayola limited the box to eight.

Seriously - I really appreciate your posting that chart. Now if we could just get the manufacturers to use the same designations ...

 

[duggap]

Barb, the Discovery channel has a series called "How it is Made". They were showing a paint manufacturer and he said they had over 10,000 colors they could produce. The first thing out of my mouth was, "there ain't that many". Guess I was wrong. Thanks for posting.:eusa_doh:

 

[Barb]

I remember asking a paint store for "off white" paint as a teenager

and being told I needed a sample as there were over 500 off-white possibilities. Yikes. I learned a lot about color in later years when I was in the wallcoverings industry.

Barb, the Discovery channel has a series called "How it is Made". They were showing a paint manufacturer and he said they had over 10,000 colors they could produce. The first thing out of my mouth was, "there ain't that many". Guess I was wrong. Thanks for posting.:eusa_doh:

 

[Mike in Seattle]

The only problem is your monitor has to be calibrated correctly to match the Pantone system. If I remember correctly there's a little thing you plug into the USB port and hang on the monitor every week or two. It's got a lens and "looks" at what comes on the screen when you run the calibration program and tweaks the monitor settings until it reaches what it considers the "right" setting. And I believe screens can vary color slightly between when they've just been turned on and an hour later and a couple hours after that. Probably not enough for the average person to notice, but if you're working with, say, photos & graphics on a magazine layout, you'd probably notice.

They've got a similar thing now for all the LCD / plasma TV's to do the same thing. I've adjust mine manually so that what I see on-screen pretty closely matches the final document that my printer spits out, but I know neither are in sync with Pantone or other standards. But look at a website or picture on your screen and then look at it on someone else's and you get an idea of how it all varies.

 

[Barb]

true, but still more descriptive than

say "Tawny Fawn". the physical paper color wheels are around $90 US or so. they have a monitor calibration kit too.

The only problem is your monitor has to be calibrated correctly to match the Pantone system. If I remember correctly there's a little thing you plug into the USB port and hang on the monitor every week or two. It's got a lens and "looks" at what comes on the screen when you run the calibration program and tweaks the monitor settings until it reaches what it considers the "right" setting. And I believe screens can vary color slightly between when they've just been turned on and an hour later and a couple hours after that. Probably not enough for the average person to notice, but if you're working with, say, photos & graphics on a magazine layout, you'd probably notice.

They've got a similar thing now for all the LCD / plasma TV's to do the same thing. I've adjust mine manually so that what I see on-screen pretty closely matches the final document that my printer spits out, but I know neither are in sync with Pantone or other standards. But look at a website or picture on your screen and then look at it on someone else's and you get an idea of how it all varies.

 

[dnjan]

My (least) favourite color name is Taupe. The range in colors that people call taupe is amazing.

 

[GwenLake]

I just bought a lipstick called Violent Diamond.

lol
Why do I picture a duel of two diamonds wielding lipstick?

 

[fatwoul]

I tried thinking up a way to help people view other peoples hats colour-accurate a while ago, but it never really caught on.

There are just too many variables which in the end make it impossible.

As Mike in Seattle pointed out, your monitor has to be calibrated to Pantone. But even that isn't enough...

You then have to make sure that everyone is looking at their hats under light of the same colour balance; ideally, daylight. But that isn't possible either.

You also have to agree on an exact Kelvin colour temperature under which to photograph your hats, and set all cameras to an identical Kelvin.

Then, you have to also consider that different materials and dyes respond differently to UV. So two colours that might look identical under tungsten might look totally different under daylight. So, you might think you have a pantone match, but you still can't be sure.

Too much to juggle at once.

The only way to truly know the colour of a hat is to look at it with your own eyes.

 

[Barb]

Yes, all true, BUT

in many cases even a "between x and y" is preferable (for me anyway) rather than "tawny fawn". and photos on vendor sites don't necessarily reflect a good color either. yeah, too tough.

Add to your list that fur can be from (I assume) different dye lots might be slightly different and the same for the ribbons.

I tried thinking up a way to help people view other peoples hats colour-accurate a while ago, but it never really caught on.

There are just too many variables which in the end make it impossible.

As Mike in Seattle pointed out, your monitor has to be calibrated to Pantone. But even that isn't enough...

You then have to make sure that everyone is looking at their hats under light of the same colour balance; ideally, daylight. But that isn't possible either.

You also have to agree on an exact Kelvin colour temperature under which to photograph your hats, and set all cameras to an identical Kelvin.

Then, you have to also consider that different materials and dyes respond differently to UV. So two colours that might look identical under tungsten might look totally different under daylight. So, you might think you have a pantone match, but you still can't be sure.

Too much to juggle at once.

The only way to truly know the colour of a hat is to look at it with your own eyes.

 

[Havana]

I base my color descriptions on the classic Crayola Crayon 8 pack that we used to get in grade school. Ever other color is simply a variation or combination of those 8 such as light brown, dark brown, greenish blue ect. Scarlet Inferno = bright red. Spring mist = light green. Simple solutions for a very simple mind. Hey, it works for me!

 

[fatwoul]

I base my color descriptions on the classic Crayola Crayon 8 pack that we used to get in grade school. Ever other color is simply a variation or combination of those 8 such as light brown, dark brown, greenish blue ect. Scarlet Inferno = bright red. Spring mist = light green. Simple solutions for a very simple mind. Hey, it works for me!

Interestingly, if there was something commonly available to everybody, which we knew was very consistent in its colour, that would be a good reference. The reference cards I printed up and sent to people kinda worked, but involved me sending them in the first place.

What we need is precisely what you're talking about: A pack or crayons, or a cereal box, or a pack of batteries or anything that is always the same colour despite what country it is available in.

Actually, I suspect crayons might be a very good one. They're cheap so everyone could buy a pack. Several photography sites use crayons on their camera test pages. They're not a deteriorating consumable like food, so they can be shipped worldwide from the same small number of factories. If we could be sure that the printing and crayon wax were consistent, that could prove to be an ideal solution.

The suggestion is surpassed only by your excellent choice of name, Havana.

 

[Barb]

How about the Crayola 64?

http://www.crayola.com/products/list.cfm?categories=CRAYONS,BASICS

Interestingly, if there was something commonly available to everybody, which we knew was very consistent in its colour, that would be a good reference. The reference cards I printed up and sent to people kinda worked, but involved me sending them in the first place.

What we need is precisely what you're talking about: A pack or crayons, or a cereal box, or a pack of batteries or anything that is always the same colour despite what country it is available in.

Actually, I suspect crayons might be a very good one. They're cheap so everyone could buy a pack. Several photography sites use crayons on their camera test pages. They're not a deteriorating consumable like food, so they can be shipped worldwide from the same small number of factories. If we could be sure that the printing and crayon wax were consistent, that could prove to be an ideal solution.

The suggestion is surpassed only by your excellent choice of name, Havana.

 

[Havana]

Thanks. I really don't know if that idea would fly in the world of fashion or decorating but it works for me. Property rights would definitely be issue in the real world. Basically, every corporation that uses color in their products probably has rights to that particular color. Then, in come the lawyers... What charms me about the crayons is the fact that they're so simple and direct. The red crayon is actually labelled red.
Barb, I never made it up to the Crayola 64. The 16 pack totally blew my mind.