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A Total Approach To Color ManagementTrue Color Communications For The Textile Industry In A Few

Keystrokes

Although the word itself comes from Latin texere, to weave, textile now applies to adazzling array of natural and synthetic materials. These include filaments, yarns, andthreads and the many woven, knitted, knotted, and embroidered fabrics made fromthem as well as to nonwoven fabrics produced by mechanically or chemically bondingfibers. And all of these materials can now be produced in an equally dazzling array ofcolors. This, as everyone involved in the textile manufacturing process knows, is achallenge. From the bright red of a fashion designers insignia to the muted shades of achair fabric cover, there are many reasons why color is difficult to reproduce. Muchhappens to change the color from the time a designer creates it to the time a retailerputs it on a store shelf. Chemicals in the dye process can change the color, so can the

material on which color is applied. The subjective way we humans see and talk aboutcolor makes it very difficult to approve and deliver an exact shade, as well. Theglobalization of todays manufacturing operations also has created problems incommunicating color. As the manufacturing locations have become more dispersed, thepressure to reduce the time between design and delivery of the finished product to thecustomer has increased.

Color communication is a total approach to color -- from the time it is conceived as adesign concept to the moment a consumer buys the finished product. The implicationsof a total approach to color for the textile industry constitute the subject of this article.

The Color Evolution & The Human Element

Naturally-occurring white light, or daylight, holds all the colors in the human visiblespectrum. This phenomenon can be seen when a prism splits the light into its manycomponent colors. Sir Isaac Newton is the first person known to report this effect in1666. Since then, scientists, mathematicians, even artists, have sought to categorizeand define color -- with the goal of effectively communicating color and with varyingdegrees of success.

Communicating color has evolved from purely subjective descriptions of color by theviewer to mathematical theories used to create color matching and control functions thatproduce repeatable standards. The latter includes the classical equation by color

measurement pioneers Kubelka and Munk as well as later theories which sought toperfect color matching through models based on tristimulus (three coordinate) orspectral (wavelength) data.

Color system suppliers have successfully translated these mathematical formulas intosophisticated systems to help textile manufacturers, colorant suppliers, and retailersstandardize the basically non-standard art of coloration all the way through the supplychain. Equations to deal with different substrates and dyes. Instruments to handlevarying materials. Techniques to offset the variables of the dyeing process. Yet

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challenges in communicating color have remained, primarily because humans remain anecessary part of the equation. Regardless of how many numbers are assigned to acolor, we dont see in numbers. We cant visualize precisely what another person meansby fire-engine red. Also, color is both a physical and psychological response to light.Each viewer brings a different response to the same stimulus. These differences can bedue to age, fatigue, color vision defects, or experience.

Consider how these human factors impact the color matching process for textilemanufacturers in this typical scenario: the designer struggles to communicate preciselythe color he or she has envisioned, using physical samples and describing how the proofshould vary from the sample i.e., warmer, brighter, bluer. The manufacturer tries tomatch each sample, but still doesnt satisfy the design spec because the sample is only astarting point. Not only is the designer limited to feedback about the sample in the mostsubjective terms (e.g., by talking it through), but the sample the manufacturer wasgiven to match may not be the same material as the final product. How often has ithappened that you were given a paint chip or piece of plastic and asked to match itscolor on fabric? The fabric or yarn on which a dyestuff is applied affects

perception of the finished color as surely as do the other considerations.

The Global Market Impacts Color

In addition to these very human factors, the globalization of textile manufacturing haspresented a number of challenges relating to color measurement and color control. Nearthe end of the 20th century manufacturing processes have shifted from locations closeto the design center to locations spread throughout the world. This further complicatedthe communication of the color standard to remote locations. Once the standard wasmatched, communicating color of the trial back to the design center also presentedlogistical difficulties.

Communicating a color standard to distant locations was first done by sending physicalstandards. Although having a physical standard is highly desirable, the majordisadvantages of this method of color communication are the time and expense it takesto create and distribute the color to multiple sites. Both the time and expense can bereduced by using commercially available libraries of colors. However, the designer has agreatly restricted palette from which to choose and may not be able to find the "right"color. Of course, there are companies that will produce custom color standards. Havinga custom color standard ensures the designer of having the right color, but the leadtimes are often substantial.

By the 1980's, textile leaders had already taken the second step in communicating color

to distant locations. Physical standards were measured in one location and the "color" ofthe standard routinely distributed to other manufacturing plants in the form of spectralreflectance curves. A physical sample was still needed for visual reference, but theapproval of batches was to the numbers.We are now taking the third step in communicating color computerization. If aphysical standard exists, it can be measured and its color displayed on a calibratedmonitor. Both the measurement data and the monitor color can be transmitted toanother location.

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A Digital Approach To Color Management

Today, it is possible to approach and manage color differently. By employing the mostadvanced computer technology, color management systems have come full circle,closing the color communications loop quite literally from mind to market. What doesthis mean for todays textile industry? First, lets look at the potentially, significantbusiness problems resulting from the color matching process described above, takinginto account both the human error in communicating color and the long-distancelogistics of :

The designer is unhappy having spent valuable time looking for physicalsamples and trying to describe how close production has come to matching thedesign color.

The manufacturer is unhappy having borne the cost of making samples andexpress shipping them to the designer

The retailer is unhappy having had to wait extended days or weeks during thetrial and error process and/or rejecting the first shipment as off-color.

Digital sampling technology brings to this design-to-production process an ability tocreate and visualize color electronically and communicate it digitally. This breaks newground across all industries, but is particularly important in textile applications whereaccurate color reproduction is critical to the delivery of a quality product.

The Benefits and Caveats of Digital Sampling

The latest technological advances in color communications have yielded a powerful newset of computerized tools. In essence, textile manufacturers, retailers, and theirsuppliers now have desktop color communications at their disposal in ways notpossible in the past.

The benefits of digital sampling technology reach virtually all the way up the textilesupply chain. Perhaps most helpful is the fact that color can be assessed visually andcommunicated digitally. The receiver gets more than a set of numbers rather, thereceiver sees precisely the color on screen that corresponds to the numbers. Similarly,visual tolerances can be evaluated and set realistically. Everyone, for example, can see

how far 1CMC unit is from a particular standard. Color standards can now be archiveddigitally, eliminating problems associated with fading, transfer, or handling. And thedigital color data is ready for input to color matching or quality control software, as wellas automatically available to the printer, or other end-user, once the colors have beenapproved. These standards then are digitally available for other uses such as QA andISO tracking.

Something to keep in mind however, is that not every computerized system will deliver

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the level of digital sampling discussed here. What to look for? First, the monitors mustbe calibrated to such a precise extent that two or more monitors reproduce a color soprecisely one can not visually detect a difference. A single monitor must be able torepeat color day after day, with the same precision. Second, the calibration must bedevice independent so that accurate RGB CIELAB conversion is permitted usingvirtually any monitor and the transfer of color is possible between any two monitors.

The software must be designed to allow users to conveniently create, change andvisually compare colors on screen. Once the on-screen color is created, the softwarethen, in turn, should automatically compute reflectance and L,a,b data which is thedigital signature of that color. The system should accept measurements by aspectrophotometer or input as L,a,b data and instantly transform the data into visualcolor on the screen for evaluation or adjustment.

Color is universal and powerful. From ancient times to today, color frequently is thedecisive factor in determining a products quality and appeal. The mastery of color intextiles encompasses many scientific laws and subjective factors -- appearance, light,

object, and material. Today, progressive color system suppliers have combined theefforts of all professionals in the color field -- researchers, colorists, engineers andtechnicians -- to deliver a total approach to the profound art of textile colorcommunication.

About the author Mr. Downes began his career as a research chemist for Burlington Industries. WithDatacolor since 1989, Mr. Downes has held various key technical and commercial positions. Today, heserves as the company's Business Manager for Color Communication. Mr. Downes holds a BSc and MSc inTextile Chemistry from North Carolina State University as well as an MBA from Rider University in NewJersey.