Introduction
Some manufacturer includes color notations in their charts or technical documentation. That color notation defines the color much more accurately than a color name.
Two systems used most frequently to describe colors are Munsell notation, and CIE L*a*b. You can read about those on Handprint or check the links on the Colour Online by David Briggs.
Whenever those notations from the manufacturers are available, I display them on the page. When only Munsell notation is provided (in most of the cases) I display only an interpolated CIE L*a*b* value. To calculate, I use the munsellinterpol R package. Here's an example:
Medium | Attributes, Swatch | Code | Name | Pigments |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pc
|
![]() ![]() ![]()
★☆
|
013 |
Nicker
Poster Colour (poster_color)
Heliotrope
Munsell: 0.5P 5.5/10.5 CIE Lab: L*55.89 a*23.02 b*-37.7 |
PW6 PV3 |
Under the CIE L*a*b* value I also display the calculated color value in sRGB (along with the fact if it's out of gamut). For this calculation, I use the algorithm, based on the information on EasyRGB. (D65 10° daylight). Here's an example of an out of gamut conversion. In this case, most likely the scanned image is also off.
Medium | Attributes, Swatch | Code | Name | Pigments |
---|---|---|---|---|
G
|
![]() ![]() ![]() |
G571 |
Holbein
Artists' Gouache (gouache)
Pure Blue
ピュア ブルー (jp) Munsell: 3.5PB 4.0/11.5 CIE Lab: L*40.59 a*-0.4 b*-46.66 |
PB15 |
Brands with Munsell and interpolated CIE L*a*b* information
Daler Rowney | Cryla | Acrylic | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Golden | Williamsburg | Oil | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Holbein | Acryla Gouache | Acrylic gouache | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Holbein | Acrylic Ink | Ink acrylic | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Holbein | Artists' Gouache | Gouache | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Holbein | Artists' Oil Color (HOC) | Oil | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Nicker | Acrylic Gouache | Acrylic gouache | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Nicker | Designers Colour | Gouache | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Nicker | Poster Colour | Poster color | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Turner | Acryl Gouache | Acrylic gouache | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Turner | Design Gouache | Gouache | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Turner | Poster Colour | Poster color | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Turner | U-35 | Acrylic | CIE L*a*b* a*b* plane |
Brands with CIE L*a*b* information
Other sources
There are other sources for CIE L*a*b* values, based on 3rd party measurements. For example for different Schmincke brands, you can check the freieFarbe Color Database.
You can also check the CIALAB ab plane with pigments on Handprint.