Replies

1. 
   BarryE | Oct 03, 2006 04:50am | #1

   http://www.easyrgb.com/reference.php

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   Barry E-Remodeler

    

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 03, 2006 08:49pm | #2

   Thanks.  I found that website and it sure is neat but it doesn't help me with custom mixed paints - only the standard colours.

   I think I'll just find the closest match in a fan deck and will then use that site.

2. 
   PaulBinCT | Oct 03, 2006 09:00pm | #3

   See if your friendly local photolab has a densitometer that reads RGB in reflection mode.  Won't be precise but oughta be pretty close.  (BTW... are you sure you don't want CMYK?)

   PaulB

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 03, 2006 11:04pm | #6

   RGB, CMYK or HSV.  Doesn't matter.

2. 
   pino | Oct 04, 2006 12:53am | #8

   Not to be picky, but what you want is a spectrocolorimeter or colorimeter. A densitomiter just measures density, thus grayscale. At least I think so.You can pick one up with software for around $500.00

1. 
   PaulBinCT | Oct 04, 2006 03:29am | #10

   Nyet...

   Trust me, 25 years in the photolab industry ;)

1. 
   pino | Oct 04, 2006 03:42am | #11

   Ever hear of Burrell Color? They used to be a good client of mine.

1. 
   PaulBinCT | Oct 04, 2006 02:37pm | #14

   Sure, know them well... they were IIRC a "social" lab, mainly weddings, portraits, yearbooks. We were exactly the opposite, did mainly high end commercial, ad agencies, medical, that sort of thing. Small world...

   PaulB

   Edited 10/4/2006 7:39 am ET by PaulBinCT

2. 
   JohnSprung | Oct 04, 2006 09:32pm | #15

   A friend of mine also did some medical video work.  That's a place where color is exceptionally critical because they're deciding what's wrong with you, or what to cut off of you, depending on the color.  Making TV shows, we sometimes call things "broadcast quality".  The doctors he worked with had a term of their own for not quite good enough: "malpractice quality" video.   ;-) 

    

   -- J.S.

    

3. 
   PaulBinCT | Oct 05, 2006 02:52pm | #16

   LOL... We did essentially all the lab work for Yale's Med School.  There were only certain staff people (not including me) that could handle looking at that stuff under a high power loupe.

3. 
   JohnSprung | Oct 03, 2006 10:11pm | #4

   Actually, it's worse than that.  There's no one natural choice of what the Red, Green, and Blue primaries should be.  Each video standard picks its own -- like SMPTE-C, CCIR Rec 601, CCIR Rec 709....  And there's no requirement that computer monitors or TV sets be made with phosphors that cover the gamuts specified in the standards.  They have knobs that the end user can turn to make the colors look the way they want, so calibrating them is another mess.... 

   Here are a couple good sources of basic info:

   http://www.poynton.com/ColorFAQ.html

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIE_1931_color_space 

    

    

    

   -- J.S.

    

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 03, 2006 11:05pm | #7

   Ya.  I know that monitors will vary (witness the "colour temperature" setting that modern monitors come with).  But, want to get close at least.

1. 
   JohnSprung | Oct 04, 2006 01:42am | #9

   OK, for getting close, what you need to do first is get your monitor set up in some reasonable way.  Here's how we do it in the TV business:

   http://www.videouniversity.com/tvbars2.htm

   You need a computer equivalent. Google around and see if anything helps.  This is one that I found that way:

   http://www.pawprint.net/designresources/monitorcalibration.php

   When you're satisfied that your monitor is pretty close to telling you the truth, take your paint samples, go into PhotoShop or whatever you have that lets you put in RGB numbers, and go for it with trial and error.  The brightness and color temperature of the light you use to see the paint chips is also critical.  For "close", just be sure to use the same lamp and bulb at the same distance every time.  And make sure there's no other source of contaminating light.  Halogen would be the best choice for color, and any kind of flourescent the worst.

   Then do the setup thing again on a different machine, compare the chips, and you now know the meaning of "close".  ;-)  

    

   -- J.S.

    

1. 
   e2canoe | Oct 04, 2006 04:44am | #12

   Thanks you very much.  That's very helpful.

   I'll also try printing (ink jet) my rendered building with the paint colours (I found close Pratt & Lambert colours that I converted using easyrgb.com) and see how close it ends up to the fan deck cards.

    

1. 
   Piffin | Oct 04, 2006 06:00am | #13

   P&L is owned by SW now. They have both colour formulaas 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

4. 
   Piffin | Oct 03, 2006 10:39pm | #5

   Interesting concept, but there will be variations of display and/or printing between different monitors and printers anyway, gauranteeing an inconsistant outcome

    

    

   Welcome to the
   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
    where ...
   Excellence is its own reward!