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Design
FAQ #1: Mixing/Matching Colors with RGB
Design FAQ #2: How do I use the Cochenille RGB
disk?
Design FAQ #3: What is the Color Aid Book and
how can I use it?
Design
FAQ #4: Mixing Colors in your Software
FAQ
#1: Mixing/Matching Colors with RGB
Question:
I
have a lot of trouble mixing and matching colors with RGB color
theory. Any tips on this??
Answer:
(taken
from an article written by Susan Lazear in the Summer '97 Cochenille
Compendium)
Working
with Color.... Notes from Susan Lazear
Many
people experience great frustration when they need to create specific
colors on their computer. First of all, they don't enjoy the mixing
process, and secondly, they find that the color they see on the
screen is NOT the color they get when they print an image out. In
addition, working with Red, Green and Blue colors (video color)..
is a different color theory than Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.. so you
need to adapt yourself to working in a world, where yellow is not
a primary color you work with. I was always hunting to warm things
up.... but couldn't use my 'yellow' in an obvious way.
Over
the years, I've found and/or created two tools that help me with
color, and here within this article, I'll share them with you. We
have made these tools available through Cochenille, but it is possible
for you to make them, just as I did.
RGB
Disk of Mixed Colors
I
once worked for a company as a computer graphic artist, designing/rendering
apparel and textiles onthe computer. Our clients included large
and small apparel manufacturers, and typically, we were serving
the role of creating prototype garments via computer.. so that merchandising
decisions could be made quickly. The first step in any project was
to mix the colors that the client would be using in the upcoming
season. How I hated that job! I didn't have the inate skill of looking
at a color and determining if it needed more green or blue, etc.
Just as I was getting ready to leave the company, and start my own
business, someone showed me a Printer's Color book. In the book,
I saw that the printing industry had devised a system for mixing
ink colors. Here was my tool for learning about color.
The
system is devised, so that you work with a 'grid' of colors. These
are composed of (in our case) Red, Green and Blue colors. On each
grid set, one color e.g. Red, is 'constant', in that its percentage
of use never changes. The other two colors, Green and Blue, each
increase in their percentage of use as you move across or down the
grid matrix. See Sample file.
Figure
1 shows you a sample of this grid system. You can see that the Red
is 0% throughout this chart. Green increased in 10% increments as
you go down the page, and Blue increases in 10% increments as you
go across the page. I spent many hours carefully mixing colors in
this grid setup, and now I have a tool that not only allows me to
easily pick the right color, but to also learn something about color
theory as I go! There are 11 files on the disk, each with a different
constant (percentage) of Red, ranging from 0% to 100%.
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Figure
1
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FAQ
#2 Using the Cochenille RGB Disk
Question:
So, how do you use the Cochenille RGB disk?
Answer:
Well,
if you need to match colors to your montior, you will load some
of the RGB files, until you see the color you want on the monitor.
Then... using your finger, you can move down and across the screen/page
to determine what percentages of Blue and Green are in that color.
You already know what percentage of Red is in the color, as this
is listed at the top of the document. Record the formula.
If
you need to match colors to your printouts, then you will have to
print each of the 11 pages out on your printer. Then, when you begin
to mix colors, you simply pull out the color sheets and find the
color you want there. Record the formula.
Once,
you have recorded the formula, you can go into your paint software
(Stitch Painter or other) and mix the color. Note that different
software packages use different ranges of colors, from 0 to the
top number). For example, Windows Paint uses a range of 0 -255 .
Stitch Painter uses a range of 0 - 255 on Windows, and 0-100 on
the Mac (System 7.6). Other programs may use a broader range. This
discrepancy of color ranges led us to work in 'percentage' mode.
You can easily take the percentage of Red (which is a number out
of 100) and multiply this by the highest number in the range that
your software uses. For example, if you are to mix a color that
is 70% Red, you will multiply 255 X .7 to calculate the proper number
to use. If you are comfortable with Spreadsheet programs, this task
is not a difficult one to set up so that you can make a chart to
do all the calculations for you.
Often,
if I need the color on the screen AND the printer to be accurate,
I use the screen palette as I work, and then, save 2 versions of
the file. The first file is the 'screen' version. The second file
will be the printer version. I change the colors on the printer
version to be the colors I can reference on my 11 pages of printouts.
FAQ
#3: What is the Color Aid Swatch Book
Question:
What is the Color Aid Swatch Book and how can I use it?
Answer:
It is...An Aid to remembering and Calculating Colors
I
find that my color memory is very short-term. I 'think' I'm going
to remember the exact shade, and no sooner do I walk down the street,
than I realize there are a multitude of 'olive greens' out there.
Given that I had taken several textile design classes, I remembered
that I had been exposed to the Pantone Color books.
Pantone
is a company that sets the industry standard for colors. Their books
are composed of sheets and sheets of color groups, similar to paint
chips. Each color is numbered, so you can communicate with someone
over the phone, the exact color you want. Well, Pantone books are
quite expensive.. so I set out to find a reasonable alternative.
What I came up with was a set of color chips by Color Aid. There
are 314 chips in a set and each of the chips is numbered on the
backside. I suggest taking a set of chips to a copy center that
has hole punching facilities, and getting them to drill a hole through
all the chips so you can hang them on a chain for quicker previewing
(and to keep the colors in their color family order).
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Having
this numbering system allows me to go to a museum or art show, and
record colors and color combinations that I like. I remember seeing
a Picasso painting in New York's Museum of Modern Art.. and thinking
to myself what a great color combo it had.. and how I would never
have thought to put those colors together. With my Color Aid book/chips,
I could match the colors, and record them in my sketchbook. Then,
months later, I could pull up that color combo, go to my computer
and mix the colors.
After
awhile, the color mixing got a little old, so I decided to 'once
and for all', mix the colors for each of the chips. This was a 'humongous'
task, but it is completed now,in the form of a database printout.
I can see the color I want in my book, then look up the number on
my database printout, and get the RGB values. All that is left is
for me to mix the color on the computer from the forumulas already
provided.
FAQ
#4: Mixing Colors in your Software
Question:
How
do I mix the colors in my software?
Answer:
In
your paint or design software package, you will need to go into
the Color Mixer of your Windows or Macintosh System. In Stitch Painter,
you will move into the Color Edit mode. To do this:
- Open
the Color Palette window from the menu. (Windows menu on the PC,
and the Colors Tear Off menu on the Mac).
- Move
into Edit Mode (click on the Title Bar in Windows, or click on
the Zoom gadget on the Mac).
- Double-click
on a palette position, where you want to mix the color.
- Calculate
how the percentages translate with a calculator and enter them
in the appropriate field.
For
example, if I need a formula of Red 10 %, Green 30% and Blue 90%,
and my software ranges its colors from 0 to 255, I will first need
to calculate as follows:
Red
10% = .1 X 255 = 25.5 or 26
Green
30%= . 3 X 255 = 76.5 or 77
Blue
90%= .9 X 255 = 229.5 or 230
These
are the numbers I type into the dialog boxes in my color mixer.
(Again, an Excel Spreadsheet works wonders).
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Windows
Mixing Palette
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Mac
Mixing Palette
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So,
there you have it! The energy I expended to create these Color tools
is past.. and now I can quickly find the colors I need to match
yarns, photos, fabrics, etc. The RGB disk combined with the Color
Pak and pre-determined formulas save me hours and hours of trial
and error, and let me get on with the task at hand.. that of designing.
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