Mixing colors by computer

Painting is one thing, to find the right color for it, is the other. Modern hardware stores not only offer you the latest trend colors, but also color mixing systems, which work more and more perfectly.

We want to renovate and are looking for the right color.” A typical sales pitch with a specialist advisor in a hardware store. He or she is then happy to demonstrate the current trend colors from his paint supplier or refer to free brochures, in which the new color moods are advertised and design ideas are provided.

Schöner Wohnen Farb, for example, has developed a color collection, from 14 color worlds (earth tones, Soft colors, vivid colors etc.) consists: Within these color worlds, you can quickly find your desired shade and, above all, coordinated shades for stylish combinations.

But what, when I've already decided on colors at home and can't see them on any of the can lids or labels? Then it usually says: "Do you have a sample with you?? Forward-thinkers are now pulling their trump card: “And, it shall be the yellow of this tile!’ Next comes the grabbing of the color sample strips: Which color field comes closest to the sample you brought with you or hits the right note? The corresponding combination of letters and numbers is entered into the keyboard of the mixer, depending on the type of color you want (Wall paint, acrylic- or synthetic resin paint.. .) a can, which already contains the base, placed in the filling chute and automatically filled with the required and calculated tinting colors. Put the lid on and you're done.

The scanner's eye recognizes every hue…

It's even easier with the latest generation of color mixing devices (for example from Brillux or Schöner Wohnen Farb), as you've seen in some construction- and home improvement stores. There is no need to compare a sample you bring with you with a color sample strip. Instead, a scanner's "eye" "reads" your pattern and sends the data to a computer. He finds out in a matter of seconds, from which color components and in which ratio the color tone can be mixed. Before the mix- and filling unit begins its work, As before, the type of paint and the required quantity still have to be entered into the computer.

A sample of approx 2 x 2 cm size: a piece of tile, a section of painted wallpaper or a varnished one, thin piece of wood – no matter. It may not work with printed paper due to coarse grids and fabrics also cause problems. The scanner needs smooth, even surfaces, Structures and textures overwhelm him. To keep the wall color in the same shade as a curtain fabric, must therefore still be selected using a sample strip.

In principle, all desired colors can be entered into the computer and usually also mixed. For example, if you have set up a partition in a room, you can be sure, to get exactly the same old color tone for the new wall – even if you don't know, which market or which manufacturer the old paint comes from.

Even if not every color can be achieved with every brilliance, about as easy as using the paint cups in a school paint box, has to do with the different composition of the colors. The “scanner eye” can look as sharply and the computer can calculate as precisely as it does – which the color composition does not reveal, Even the most modern electronics cannot do this. Luckily the computer lets you know, when the device reaches its performance limits and does not simply allow the wrong color tones to be filled. That too is great progress. Just think back to the failed mixing attempts of earlier times in front of your own room wall: How many jam jars with unfortunate colors ended up in hazardous waste back then or are still stored on some basement shelves today? How many ambitious do-it-yourselfers had to pay with a destroyed self-confidence and were possibly at the mercy of ridicule for years: “You have a great color in your apartment – really very unusual!In the future, such compliments will no longer be meant ironically and should actually be sent to the paint suppliers and the mixing equipment in the building- and do-it-yourself stores.