Color chips prepared by color clustering used for matching refinish paints

摘要

A process for refinishing or repainting a damaged paint area of a vehicle or part thereof using a computer-implemented method to determine a refinish paint formula that can form a refinish matching paint to match the color of the original paint; in this process: a) a color code which contains color data values of the original paint is acquired; c) the color code is entered into a computer containing a color cluster database and color clusters and each color cluster has a centroid and refinish paint formula associated therewith; c) the color clusters associated with the color code of the original paint are identified; d) color chips that correspond to each of the color clusters identified in step c) using the refinish paint formula associated with the centroid of each of the color clusters are prepared or alternatively color chips provided by a manufacturer of the refinish paint can be used; e) a matching chip having the closest color match to the original paint is determined visually; f) the refinish paint associated with the matching chip identified in step e) as the closest color match is selected as the refinish matching paint and spray applied to the damaged paint area by an operator using conventional techniques thereby matching the color characteristics of the refinish matching paint to the undamaged original paint of the vehicle.