Color Matching

Basics

• The Aspect of Quality Control Dedicated to Making Sure Colors Remain the Same From Design, to Materials, to Finished Product, and From Product to Product

Process

Design

• In the Design Process of the Product, the overall Color Scheme is debated, typical creative process flow for however the group does this

Designation/Standardization

• The Colors are Finalized and Designated as Various Standards
• This can be done via something like the Pantone Color Matching System

Pre-Production

• The Theoretical/Creative Team Meets up with the Manufacturers etc
• The "Ideal Color" vs what can be done in real life, or how it would look due to the Surface Finish or with Plastic, the Opacity etc
• Some Feedback is done in this step until any potential conflicts are cleaned up (Way to produce it is figured out, choice is changed, or compromise somewhere in between those two)

Production

• Materials Needed to Produce the Correct Paint/Coating/Colorant Pellet etc are determined
  • This is either by Existing Recipes, or via Experimentation in the Group's Lab ( Quality Control Lab / Dedicated Color Lab )
• This is then Used
• As the Products are Produced, along with typical Quality Control Record Keeping , Photos / Color Value Scans are taken
• Via various metrics, one can semi-objectively compare what the result is with the "optimal color"
  • A Tolerance should be set up to make this an Achievable Goal (Re: SMART (Abbreviation )
  • Add in a "Margin" too where if it is a "Pass" but is close to a Fail (by whatever Margin you set) you get a warning by that separate category (Similar to Documenting Close Calls in Industrial Hygiene )
• Random Sampling for More Intensive Testing and/or Archiving may also be of use

Misc

• A Consideration to Accelerated Aging Testing and/or Customer Feedback is also of use, Photodegradation and Rubber Reversion (As well as Coatings Chipping Off etc)

Internal Links

• Color Grading (A Similar Concept, but for Video Editing )
  • Minor Caveat, it can also be used to affect the overall composition of a scene etc, not just make it "calibrated"
• Metrology (Similar Concept, but for Units of Measure / Measuring Devices; "How do you know your level is level, that 1kg on the scale is 1kg, etc")
• Philips CIE D65 (The "Standard" For Artificial Daylight in Color Matching (Not for UV) )
  • "What is D65 and what is it used for?" - Waveform Lighting
  • An LED Strip Alternative They Sell
    • Seeing if this is "legit" would be interesting, also if various studio LEDs can, granted if need be Fluorescent Lights aren't the worst, but Ballasts as well as tubes going bad is a pain

External Links

• A Video by the YouTube Channel "DyeMansion" Titled "Explained: Color Matching | DyeMansion" ( ~5 Minute Watch )
  • Does borderline advertise their dying method in between the important information, so some skipping around can be done
• A Video by the YouTube Channel "Star Rapid" Titled "7 Simple Tips to Get Perfect Color Matching | Some Serious Engineering - Ep5" ( ~9 Minute Watch )
• A Video by the YouTube Channel "Squeegee and Ink" Titled "HOW TO MIX PANTONE COLOURS FOR SCREEN PRINTING - Using the International Coatings Mixing System" ( ~18 Minute Watch )
  • Covers the concept of using the Pantone Color Matching System in their Screen Printing Workflow for Custom T-Shirts
• A Video by the YouTube Channel "X-Rite Color" Titled "Life of a Color #4: Production & Quality Control" ( ~14 Minute Watch )
  • This is from the company itself, so bias there be cautious, but unlike the more advertisement like videos, this is a recorded webinar and seems to have good information