The portal for colour binding proofs, colour proofs, digital proofs, online proofs. Compact knowledge on colour management, graphics, measuring technology & more.
Designers constantly need to be inspired to create new colour creations. Often pictures are chosen as the starting point for a new colour composition. Or there is a leading colour for which further colours must be found in order to create a harmonious colour palette.
There are several websites on the net that are perfect for such colour breakdowns and colour inspirations for graphic artists and designers. We have summarized the best of them here in an overview.
1. Adobe Color CC, formerly Adobe Kuler:
Adobe Color CC is the Adobe social colour network. Designers can test and evaluate colours and develop different colour schemes and colour combinations. These can then be downloaded directly for use in Adobe products such as Adobe Creative Suite. https://color.adobe.com
2. COLOURlovers.com
On Colourlovers, users can create colour palettes, rate them and exchange information in blogs. In addition, the site offers numerous articles on colour, shapes and much more. https://www.colourlovers.com
3. colorcombos.com
With Colorcombos, users can experiment with different colours and colour
Paletton or the Color Scheme Designer is a powerful and user-friendly colour wheel for selecting colours. Graphic designers can start right away to assemble colour collections and select basic colours. http://paletton.com
5. colr.org
Colr.org is a fun tool that allows you to quickly and easily generate colour palettes from Flickr images or your own uploaded images. Images can also be processed from other websites. http://www.colr.org
6. Pantone
Pantone is the mother of all colour pages. Not only will you find detailed information on all Pantone colours and colour fans, PantoneLIVE and MyPantone also provide community-driven services where designers can create their own palettes and get inspiration from others. http://www.pantone.de
7. HKS
HKS offers more than just the traditional colour system on its website. With the Colourmatch magazine and the design section you will find interesting articles and inspiration on the subject of colour with HKS. http://www.hks-farben.de
8. Colorspire
Colorspire is another simple tool to generate individual colour palettes. Web designers can directly view a rudimentary type of website colour scheme of the chosen colours. http://www.colorspire.com/
9. Colormunki
In colour management circles, the inexpensive measuring device is rather mocked, but the website does offer a powerful potential for designers. Colormunki is a chic and powerful colour application where designers can create colours, save colour palettes and view other designers’ palettes. There’s also a lot of background information from the X-Rite website. http://www.colormunki.com
10. Color Palette FX
Color Palette FX is also a simple and clear application for creating colour palettes based on images. Own images for palette generation can be uploaded without any problems. http://www.palettefx.com [Edit: No longer available.]
In recent years, various problems have arisen with our previous proof paper supplier. On the one hand, we sometimes had to wait more than three months for paper deliveries; on the other hand, we sometimes had significant problems with batch-to-batch discrepancies, surface defects and much more. After lengthy deliberations, we decided in December to replace all the paper. We therefore received pallets of new paper at the turn of the year, which we are now gradually incorporating into our production. There will be no hard cut, but the new papers … read more
RGBcolour spaces are colour systems that represent different hues with the three primary colours red, green and blue. RGB colour spaces are used in digital image processing, photography and computer technology to precisely define colours. The most important RGB colour spaces and their special features are: sRGB sRGB is the most widely used RGB colour space and is used by most monitors, printers and digital cameras. It was developed by HP and Microsoft in the 1990s to create a standard for colour representation on the internet and on various … read more
A few days ago Proof GmbH was the first company to be certified for proofing for the new 7C exchange colour space FOGRA55. Fogra has developed characterisation data for extended multicolour printing with the printing colours CMYKOGV – i.e. cyan, magenta, yellow, black (contrast), orange, green and violet – FOGRA55 as part of a research project over the past few years. The characterisation data and the ICC profile Ref-ECG-CMYKOGV_FOGRA55_TAC300.icc have been published on the Fogra website in recent weeks. We have now carried out the certification via GMG ColorProof, as … read more
In recent weeks, there have been lengthy discussions on the Fogra digital printing mailing list as to whether a research project should be launched to define standardised tonal value gradations for spot colours. What is this all about? In the field of CMYK and seven-colour printing, the definition of clear, printable and proofable standards is well established and has been tried and tested in practice. If the paper or paper class is known and defined, a measuring standard such as M0/M1/M2 has been established and the content of optical brighteners … read more
Whether it’s a large global corporation or a small company, the following often applies to designs or redesigns today: we develop everything for digital first.
Offset and Newsprint ISO Coated v2 (ECI) / ISO Coated v2 300% (ECI) Profile: ISOcoated_v2_eci.icc Standard for glossy and matte coated paper Paper: Types 1 and 2, gloss and matte coated Tone value increase curves A (CMY) and B (K) as defined in ISO 12647-2:2004 Characterisation Data: FOGRA39L ISOUncoated Profile: ISOUncoated.icc Standard for uncoated white natural paper Paper: paper grade 4, uncoated white offset, dot gain curves C (CMY) and D (K) from ISO 12647-2: 2004 Characterisation Data: FOGRA29L PSOCoatedV3 / Fogra 51 Profile: PSOcoated_v3.icc The successor of ISOCoatedV2 for glossy … read more
A new generation of colour measuring devices is entering the market: in contrast to the classic measuring devices, which are available as a fully encapsulated system either as a colourimeter or as a spectrophotometer, and then supply the data to a computer via an interface or app or display it directly, the new generation of colour measuring devices consist only of lighting and software, with the optics of a modern iPhone from Apple being used as the sensor. Until now, there have been two categories of measuring devices on the … read more
Over the last few months, we at Proof.de have been thinking about further improving our already very good colour measurement technology in terms of speed and measurement precision. Relatively quickly it became clear that only two devices would come into question: The KonicaMinolta MYIRO-9, the successor of the former FD-9, or the X-Rite ISIS 2 XL. The starting point: Since we at Proof GmbH have 5 proofing devices, the calibration of targets for profile optimisation is a time-critical undertaking for us. Therefore, we had been looking around for an upgrade of … read more
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