Colours are built up in different ways, in paint according to a certain recipe, in a printer with toner or ink (CMYK) on a screen with pixels. Printing with the same paint on textile or paper or wood or metal or glass will give a different result on each substrate but even on the same substrate the result can differ depending on absorption, composition, temperatures and humidity. For colours, many colour references are possible, RAL colours for painters, Pantone PMS colours for printers etc.

The same image visible on a screen or printed on paper can be displayed in many different ways, one time bluer or yellower or blacker or redder etc. To properly compare a colour with a colour reference, the equipment must be calibrated or adjusted as closely as possible to the reference! Screens, printers, etc. can be calibrated by certified companies so that they display the colours as accurately as possible, the printers and screens in our design studio, for example, are calibrated monthly. For Pantone colour references, specially produced Pantone colour fans can be bought in the trade, a set of official Pantone fans can easily cost €800 - €2000.

For dyeing fabrics, Pantone TCX colour references are normally used, unfortunately most companies do not have Pantone TCX but only PMS colour references. Pantone PMS colour references are print colours, which cannot be compared to TCX colours, especially the Pantone PMS C(oated) version, which cannot be compared at all because fabrics cannot be coated with the same gloss, so we try to match the PMS reference as closely as possible.

In the factory laboratory, the colour sample is compared, by means of a photo spectrum meter and visually, with the colour reference before it is sent to the customer. As a fabric colour and Pantone PMS print colour are difficult to compare, there will usually be a certain percentage difference, which is why we often send multiple colour samples.