Datacolor International
For Its Colorite System
Datacolor Internationals Colorite system offers the worldwide textile industry a new faster
color development process called Digital Sampling. For the first time, the conventional method of
developing color through physical samples and multiple lab dips can be replaced by a streamlined
process that uses a digital standard.By communicating digitally through e-mail or by computer
network, colors can be visually assessed immediately on the computer screen without the cost and
time involved in shipping physical samples. Standards and batches can be electronically stored and
quickly retrieved for permanent archiving. From Swatches To CurvesThe key to streamlining the
color development time is to replace physical samples, usually a swatch of cloth, with digital
samples that can be electronically transmitted between computers. More than just a color image is
transferred. Numerical color data including a spectral curve and a digitized substrate image is
also sent. The curve, not the swatch, is the standard now.Once the dyehouse receives this
information, they can use computerized color-matching systems to make predictions about how closely
they can match the color on a given substrate. These predictions in the form of a spectral curve
can be sent back to tell the retailer what is possible before the first laboratory dyeing is even
made.For this system to work each computer monitor must show exactly the same color. Datacolor
accomplishes this using its Colorite calibration technology.The Colorite technology allows users to
calibrate computer monitors to a precision of less than 0.5 average Delta E. This calibration is
device independent and calibrates the monitor using CIE coordinates. The system uses a low-cost CRT
probe to measure the screen and provide data for calibration.All Colorite products are available on
the standard Windows platform, allowing for easy integration into existing PC
configurations. Colorite Users MultiplyColorite systems are currently in use in the textile,
apparel, food and cosmetics industries in the United Kingdom and the United States. Customer
reaction has been very positive, and Datacolor can point to a growing number of major companies who
are Colorite users.Bali Company, a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of intimate
apparel, and its major suppliers have reached an agreement with Datacolor to implement an
electronic color communication system that will shorten the sampling process and assure that every
product matches the designers original specifications. With Colorite, Bali can more quickly and
accurately manage its shade approval process via computer screen, which numerically and visually
assesses the color to be reproduced.Burke Mills is using Colorite technology from Datacolor to
communicate with customers and has placed a system in one of its larger customers. This technology,
which delivers true “on-screen” color, replaces the need for physical samples with digital samples
and significantly reduces the cycle time for color approval.Fruit of the Loom has chosen a complete
suite of color communication, computer color matching, and color quality control systems from
Datacolor. Fruit of the Loom’s design and development center, main dyehouse and production plants
will all be linked using Colorite to replace physical sampling with digital sampling.
November 1999
