In thirty years of color work, I've developed a list of important data and information COLORING specialists use. This data is accumulated and stored in our paper files and on our local computers. Some day, all this will be on the net -- continuously updated and revised at the sources.

Beginners: wondering what we need lights and observers for? See my Introduction to Color Measurement. If you're serious, better study one of the reference texts.

• Lights
  • CIE Illuminants A, and Daylight D6500, and the S0, S1, and S2 components to calculate other daylights.
  • Daylights from D4000 through D25000; how to calculate them by Danny Rich, and 61 samples by David Porter.
  • Common fluorescent and other artificial lamps. Anybody have the spectrum of the inexpensive 'Cool White Deluxe' that I see in the stores now?
  • Real daylight: from dawn to dusk in Phoenix AZ and Newark NJ and elsewhere.
  • Commercial color viewing booths
    • Macbeth D75, D65, Horizon.
    • Tailored Lighting's SPLICE upgrade.
• Observers
  • CIE Standard 2 degree and 10 degree observers
  • The CIE standard observers and others can be found in the CVRL Color & Vision database
  • The Deviant observer, allows predicting typical variation
  • Color-blind observers, especially the red-green anomalous male Caucasian
• Filters
• Objects
  • Calibration tiles
    • BCRA calibration tiles
    • Labsphere calibration tiles
  • Color order sets
    • Munsell
      • Munsell colors matt (AOTF measured) (LUT)
      • Munsell colors matt (spectrofotometer measured)
      • Munsell colors glossy (spectrofotometer measured)
      • From the clever folks at Lappeenranta U: page through a demo of the Munsell color book... really fun!
      • From NCSU.
    • DIN RAL standards
    • OSA Uniform Color Set
    • Pantone
    • House and Garden color sets
  • Important commercial targets
    • Dupont paint colors, NCSU
    • US GSA paint color standards
    • Automotive target standards
    • Corporate colors
    • NEMA color target standards
    • Ostwald color targets
  • Mineral spectra. US Geodetic Survey
  • Spectra from Lappeenranta U, Finland -- see other utilities there
    • AGFA IT8.7/2 set
    • Candy colors
    • Daylight spectra
    • Forest colors
    • Lumber spectra
    • Munsell colors matt (AOTF measured)
    • Munsell colors matt (spectrofotometer measured)
    • Munsell colors glossy (spectrofotometer measured)
    • Natural colors
    • Paper spectra
• Colorant K&S data. I have a friend who has promised the Dupont paint pigment data -- Colorant vendors, or anyone with public domain data, please help us out here!
• CD-ROM of important spectra and public domain software, as gathered in the Internet COLORING data base.
• Consultants
  • Hammel & Company
• Job Opportunities
• Positions Open
• Catalog of colorants -- including spectra!
  • Compatibility
  • Light and heat stability
  • Effects on mechanicals
  • Safety and environmental information, MSDS's
• Catalog of vendors: instruments, colorants, equipment
• List of educational institutions with color programs
• List and calendar of color educational seminars
• List of organizations with special interest in color
• Calendar of meetings of interest to color specialists
• Spectral data standard formats
  • JCAMP-DX -- working standard from the spectroscopists
  • ASTM E1708 for Color and Appearance Data�
• On-line color conversion software
• From LUT: Calculate color coordinates and other important, and FUN javascript tools
  • from given spectra
  • from user modified spectrum (This one is FUN... try it!)
  • from other color coordinates
• Software -- freeware, shareware, commercial
  • Color difference metrics --See descriptions in Alan Roberts and Adrian Ford's FAQ; Pascal software for the four most important ones are posted here, under Heggie's Software.
    • My own Introduction to Color Measurement
    • Macadam units
    • CIELab 1976 -- Pascal Software
    • CMC -- Pascal Software
    • BFD -- Pascal Software
    • CIE94 -- see David Heggie's description and Pascal Software
    • Munsell conversions, plus CIELab to RGB and Munsell charts, color on the screen!
    • Other proposals
  • Spectra viewers
    • A clever and beautifully done JCAMP-DX Windows viewer, with sample spectra for IR, UV/VIS, NMR, MS, etc.
    • SPVIEW -- MS-DOS spectra viewer, works with USGS mineral spectra database. I haven't tested this... if you do, would you let us know?
  • Color matching software: reviews, beta tests, shareware
• Color naming
  • ISCC/NBS's Universal Language and Dictionary of Color Names. I want the spectra of the Munsell chips for these, so I can train my spectro to suggest color names!
• Color Vision and Color Aptitude tests
• Color Vision link from LUT. Focuses on color image analysis, especially multicomponent images. Prof. Heikki K�lvi�inen.