Method for obtaining an approximate standard colour definition for a sample colour

摘要

A method for obtaining an approximate standard colour definition for a sample colour (2) without the need for standard conditions of illumination or observation. The method comprises using colour sensing equipment such as a digital camera (6) to sense under non-standard conditions both the sample colour and a plurality of reference colours (5) each being provided on a template (1) and each having a known standard colour definition. The sensing under non-standard conditions produces a non-standard colour definition both for the sample colour and for each of the reference colours. The non-standard colour definitions of reference colours near in colour space to the sample colour are compared with the known standard colour definitions for the reference colours to obtain correction factors which are then applied to the non-standard colour definition of the sample colour to convert it to colour definition which, though it is only an approximation of the standard colour definition, is nevertheless sufficiently close to the true standard colour definition to be useful in colour matching.