# Matching paint via RGB or other values



## Faron79 (Jul 16, 2008)

Nope....no way to do that!!

RGB is for VIDEO/ELECTRONIC color transmission normally.

Paint colorants and dispensing/color-matching software don't operate that way...not even remotely.

Faron


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

www.easyrgb.com offers free access in addition to several commercial products. It does a great job of translating RGB codes to paint. In fairness to the prior poster doing so is really somewhat subjective and one system is transmitted color while paint is reflective color. I use the translator all the time with good results though. 

If you have it, simply type in the RGB code for the color you want. Pick a paint manufacturer's color collection, and the system will kick out the four nearest colors from that collection along with the code number and name. 

Any time you are working with color matching you should set your monitor to the standard for viewing color: 6500K. There is a preset for this in the settings and display section of Windows. I am not sure how to do it on a fruit machine.

Easy RGB will offer you the option to calibrate your monitor on a per use basis.

If you don't have the RGB code but can digitize your image (paint chip in your case) or whatever and then capture any pixel color with a free pixel grabber. I like Pick Pic or the one in the color exploration program I use, Color Impact.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Two other options to look into if the easyrgb approach does not work for you.

1. Many major paint brands share their color codes with each other. A real paint store may have the formula for Pratt & Lambert colors.

2. Many paint stores have color scanners that can take a sample and convert it to a paint formula. You can bring in fabric, old paint with missing name or codes or, if it is big enough, a paint selector chip.


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## Faron79 (Jul 16, 2008)

I match paint all the time, and am getting very good at it over the years.

We've got very good software, and a very good scanner. Twice-yearly updates are purchased for competitor fandeck-matches. This runs a few $hundred/yr. alone!

Something nobody seems to realize....
NO....paint Co.'s don't "share" their colors/formulas!
>>>> Why would they??

* The "Illusion" of every paint store possesses magic computers that have perfect matches stored for every brands' color out there is pure bunk.
* All they are, are scanned matches of competitor fandecks, and translated into a particular brands colorant database, and stored into the "twice-yearly" update packages that each store can buy from their tinting-software vendor.
* Do these matches ever match??!??!?
* I'll phrase it this way...."They're usually fairly close".
* A fair number of these "matches" need further work.
* Since the "Matched" formula is never actually MADE, there's no way to tell until it's actually mixed.
* Then the tweaking begins.....^&*(*&#$#((#@^%
* Scanning fabric rarely works, and we don't do it. The scanners' light beam is too strong, and often reflects poorly off material.
* Other brands color-codes do little good, since EVERY company uses different colorants. C2 for instance, uses SIXTEEN available colorants.
ACE (and many others) uses 11.
* The darker or more vivid the color, the farther they're off. Some colors just can't be created into every brand. I've seen many of our C2 chips come back to our store with paint dabs on them from stores who've "scanned' them. Some aren't even in the ballpark!!!!

Faron


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## 01grander (Jun 25, 2012)

Thanks for the replies. I'll try that website. Good info too.


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## Ed Ferris (Mar 14, 2014)

*impossible paint colors*

If I may resurrect this thread ...
I rehab Victorian houses. They were painted in mineral pigments, which colors cannot be reproduced by tinting colors at your local paint store. The stronger colors don't even come close, as you will find if you try them in EasyRGB. Is this because companies don't offer these colors -- maybe they don't want to put a pint of tinting color in a $25 gallon of paint -- or because the tinting colors are weak -- adulterated is the word -- or because mixtures of colors cannot be saturated? I'm trying to get an explanation from Valspar of why they cannot formulate paint to RGB numbers, with no result so far. Their color-dispenser is computer-driven, so why not drive it with the numbers I supply?
Had to sand the bronze-green paint off a window sash recently. It was primed with lampblack. The result is a dark yet saturated green. Another house I'm working on has yellow ochre primer under twelve or more topcoats. The paint is peeling because the painter in 1988 sprayed on a thick rubbery latex.
Scans of fan decks are less accurate than the fan decks, which are worthless for colors in the Gold range and highly saturated colors in general.
I attach a scheme I'm trying to use. I can match the Buff close enough. The brown may be SW2808 -- which EasyRGB didn't come up with. The Ochre (which looks to me like Orange Chrome Yellow) may have to be mixed from orange and black. The Venetian Red would not really be mineral pigment in 1898, but I can't find a modern match for it.
Does any company still supply max-strength prepackaged colors? Like SW Exterior Accents used to be.


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