Pantone Color Bridge for RGB matching?

[AshleyTN]

I have an Epson R2880, and I use it to print out various designs I create. I usually mat them on card stock, and I'm looking for a quick way to match my ink colors to my card stock colors. (i.e., I have a piece of purple card stock and I want the purple text I print to match.)

I was thinking the Pantone Color Bridge would work well.

Any opinions on this? Or a cheaper option than the Pantone decks?

Thanks!

 

[The Hat]

I have an Epson R2880, and I use it to print out various designs I create. I usually mat them on card stock, and I'm looking for a quick way to match my ink colors to my card stock colors. (i.e., I have a piece of purple card stock and I want the purple text I print to match.)

I was thinking the Pantone Color Bridge would work well.

Any opinions on this? Or a cheaper option than the Pantone decks?

Thanks!

You didnt say which application you wanted to use to produce this purple colour.
If you can use Photoshop there are Pantone colours as well as RGB and CYMK to choose from.

 

[AshleyTN]

Right now, I do not have photoshop. (I have elements, but not the full photoshop yet.)
I've actually just been using Publisher and entering my RGB values. It's worked fairly well, but like I said, I'd like to compare a swatch to the card stock and then match the colors when I enter the RGB.

(Hoping to get Photoshop some day soon!)

 

[The Hat]

Right now, I do not have photoshop. (I have elements, but not the full photoshop yet.)
I've actually just been using Publisher and entering my RGB values. It's worked fairly well, but like I said, I'd like to compare a swatch to the card stock and then match the colors when I enter the RGB.

(Hoping to get Photoshop some day soon!)

I dont know about P. Elements whether it has Pantone conversions or not but I would imagine MS Publisher
would have for sure, its suppose to be a professional package.

 

[AshleyTN]

I don't think I did a good job explaining how I want to use it.

I want to take a fan deck and hold it up to my card stock to find a matching (or close) color.

Then, I want to use the RGB (or Pantone or whatever) values when I put the colors into my designs and text.

Thus, the card stock is the same color as the printed piece. (The card stock doesn't come with RGB/Pantone/CMYK values, so I need something to match it to.)

Is the Pantone Bridge the best product for this purpose?

Thanks for your help already!

 

[Grandad35]

Getting any device to produce a specific color isn't a trivial exercise, and is the reason why the science of color management was developed.

Here is some good reading material on the subject.

Are you working in the sRGB, aRGB, Color Match RGB, Apple RGB or even the "Bruce RGB" color space? Each of them represents a different color for the same set of RGB values. How do you deal with the limitation that printers can't generate all of the colors that your eyes can see? How do you handle the fact that the colors that you see vary with the type of lighting under which you view the color samples (metamerism)?

To get close, you need to find someone who understands color management and who has the necessary equipment to measure your colors in the "CIELab" color space. You will also need to have a custom profile generated for your printer with each type of card stock that you plan on using, and then print through a program that supports custom profiles (e.g. Photoshop or Qimage).

 

[The Hat]

I don't think I did a good job explaining how I want to use it.

I want to take a fan deck and hold it up to my card stock to find a matching (or close) color.

Then, I want to use the RGB (or Pantone or whatever) values when I put the colors into my designs and text.

Thus, the card stock is the same color as the printed piece. (The card stock doesn't come with RGB/Pantone/CMYK values, so I need something to match it to.)

Is the Pantone Bridge the best product for this purpose?

Thanks for your help already!

What you want to achieve is possible but very frustrating in that you dont know how or have the means to produce it.
I have used Pantone colour references most of my working life and can appreciate what youre going through;
I dont think you will get the colour you want using RGB alone without a reference first.

If the purple colour you want to produce in your artwork is not a solid block like the original colour
sample is and you want to reproduce the same purple colour as text then I wish you luck.

When a sample colour has no white border to it and your printed artwork has (sheet of paper)
all dough the colours can be exactly the same they will look totally different to the human eye.

Without the proper software application the knowledge and time to test each colour profile out
till you get the exact colour you want on the paper youre going to use for your job then you got no chance at all,
its easy to shout draw but very hard to shoot straight in reality.

Time and patients are something we all need lots of but dont have it so the answer is to pay for professional help
to achieve your goal if it is that important to you sorry.

 

[Grandad35]

I don't think I did a good job explaining how I want to use it.

I want to take a fan deck and hold it up to my card stock to find a matching (or close) color.

Then, I want to use the RGB (or Pantone or whatever) values when I put the colors into my designs and text.

Thus, the card stock is the same color as the printed piece. (The card stock doesn't come with RGB/Pantone/CMYK values, so I need something to match it to.)

Is the Pantone Bridge the best product for this purpose?

Thanks for your help already!

A second thought that may work for you:
1. Generate an image with a number of color blocks with a range of different RGB values that might be of interest to you - you should be able to do this with Elements. Use multiple images if there are too many color blocks to fit on a single sheet of paper and still be useful.
2. Use Elements to label each block with its RGB color values (for obvious reasons).
3. Print the color blocks on each type of card stock/paper that you will use to make your final prints, using the default printer driver settings.
4. Cut the samples apart and tape each to a larger sheet of the same paper - the goal is to have a uniform unprinted border around each color patch (because nearby colors affect how we perceive the color of a block). Be sure to label each sample with the paper type.
5. When selecting a color, only use the samples printed on the same paper that you will use for the final work. Also, be sure to view the color samples under the same lighting conditions as you will view the final printed work.

You have now created a set of "Ashley Bridge" color samples for each paper on your printer/ink. Use these samples as you propose for the Pantone samples - they are of zero use for another printer or different printer driver settings, but they should be reproducible when used on your printer/ink/paper combination. This type of approach is how early printers handled their color matching; it works well as long as you don't need to have another printer reproduce the same results.

 

[RogerB]

I agree ocmpletely with Grandad35 that it is better to match your printer output directly to the card stock rather than employing an intermediate reference - cut out the middle-man!

As a variation on Grandad35's suggestion, why not print a series of different coloured patches on you normal media, trying (by gueswwork) to get as close to your coloured card stock as possible. Then, take a scap piece of the card stock, punch or cut a nice neat hole in it and then place it on top of your sheet of printed patches. As long as the hole is smaller than your colour patches you can view one patch surrounded by the card stock and decide which gives the best visual match.