Color matching, it's an art as much as a science. Even with all the tools at a painters disposal, they all have to be used correctly to try and achieve a match. Not only do painters have the task of matching newer difficult colors but also the correct texture on the finish. If that wasn't enough you have weathered finishes and different types of materials to spray that cause colors to look different. These are just some not all, of the issues a painter deals with on a daily basis.
So let's start at the beginning of the process and talk about the original paint on the vehicle. When vehicle manufacturers decide in what color choices they will offer a particular vehicle they also decide on what paint manufacturer will supply them with those colors. During the years that those colors are offered on a vehicle numerous paint manufacturers may have been used as suppliers. Keep in mind that this process of supply and demand is on a global scale, add to that paint batch variances within the same paint manufacturers. This is only one contributor to color variance.
Paint manufacturers are aware of these variances and try to keep up with formula updates as quickly as possible. This is why certain colors will have alternates offered and they are usually also chipped to make picking one easier. These are only tools that are offered to help but by no means an exact science.
Let's address some other issues. So you've decided that a certain alternate was a close match and you have the paint jobber mix that color for you or you have an intermix system setup in shop.
If something as simple as mixing the toners on the machine is not performed prior to mixing the color you could be off on the mix. Let's take this a step further not only could you be off on that color but every color you make with that toner thereafter because the pigment proportions will be off on the toner.
Some simple mistakes that can be corrected are not using spray out cards before applying a color. Do you want to spray out a pint of paint on a panel, step back and then decide it didn't match. Spray out a card which you can use to make notes on and keep for future use. If the color needs to be adjusted then we are looking for things like Value (lightness or darkness), Hue (color), and Chroma (intensity, richness, saturation). A lot can be written about this and I won't go into it here.
The color is a blendable match and you're ready to spray. Well before we go spray happy lets cover some things. No color is ever a perfect match, it may look that way but when you get it under different lighting conditions and you run into that eventual picky customer you are going to have to redo some jobs. Word of advice don't butt match paint jobs, go that little bit extra and always blend into adjacent panels or find the right places to cut off the blend.
Lighting conditions is also a big issue at shops. Owners typically don't feel they need to spend money on this but if the math was done on how much money is spent on re do's because of improper lighting this would be an easy sell.
Listen I'm one of the first that will admit to wearing my fare share of blue socks when I thought they were black. Well, same damn thing but now we're talking hundreds of dollars worth of paint products. If the light is wrong the color is wrong. There are many vendors that sell sunlight equivalent tubes that can replace your current spray booth tubes and will give you the true color you need to see when matching, not after you roll the car out into the sunlight.
Matching the selection of colors that are coming out in the automotive world is truly becoming more of an art, but if you use all the tools at your disposal and stick with the proven blending techniques the odds will be in your favor.
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