What is the best lighting to proof colors and achieve the truest results????

[screenprintguy]

I was told about a certain florescent bulb called a Designer 60. That it's light output does not change what a color truly looks like, like cool white, or warm white florescence do. Anyone have any experiences?

[Prosperi-Tees]

I use the great outdoors.

[Frog]

I use daylight whenever possible.
I seem to remember small cabinets made for this purpose that contained a few different light sources, but the details are long buried in old piles of crap.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Yes something like this but daylight is always the best in matching colors.
http://www.verivide.com/start/en/customer-service/light-cabinets-retailer-specifications

[ZooCity]

Do a google search on it, there's a good deal of easier to read explanations on this than I could offer.  In a nutshell, you want the right color temp on your lighting and you want enough of it.  I've always spent the time and cash to get the best possible lighting overall in my shops and, in the current one, even painted with a specific "brown" tint of white so the light bouncing around is as color neutral as possible.

Proofing box is a great idea too and a hell of a lot cheaper than re-lighting the shop with higher end T8s or T5s but, if you have halides in there now, you'll save some bank over the long haul going to the newer fluorescents.  The good bulbs are not too much more than the not so good ones if you or your electrician knows what to look for, you don't need anything exotic here and the bulbs marketed for color are often exorbitantly priced and not really any different than commercially available ones.

[tonypep]

I built a color viewing bow that uses three different light sources. Outdoor, store and something else. Used it to check dye lots upon arrival. It is painted entirely in neutral gray. Don't use it any more. I can snap a peg later if anyone cares. Pantone sells or at least sold these as well. be prepared for sticker shock.

[JBLUE]

I would like to see a pic. The sun is free though...

[Sbrem]

The sun is best, but for artificial, you'll want "daylight balanced", color temp around 5500K, which is pretty close to noontime sunlight (photographic flash units are in this neighborhood)

Steve

[tonypep]

Sun is not actually best but it is free. Depends on your end customer. Hilfiger? No way. Same with most designers. Also the Nikes, Northface, Patagonia and most retail. Even to the guy down the street what you see is not always you wear. Certain colors have stronger metameric properties than others and can be very decieving when shown under sun verses store light, verses your office.

[Sbrem]

I like the Sun for a starting place; of course, I haven't had to do the giant retail, where we would use the different lighting to simulate the end viewing environment of the stores. Hopefully, the buyer would be under the same light. Tony, do you ever have to get into explaining such concepts to the buyers, and if so, do they get it, or are they uninterested? I ask because one of my largest contract customers likes to grill me on how I would produce the job in question... (I wonder if he's checking something the competition told him)

Steve

[JBLUE]

We like the sun as well to start but it gets checked in the shop and flo lights in the office for consistency.

[tonypep]

It's rare but at times I do have to explain metamerism to customers. Pinks and purples and of course flourescents are suspect colors. Nike, for instance, is extremely color conscious and specifically chooses colors not usually found in the Pantone book. You have to match shoe laces or bits and pieces of shoes.
Heres a pic of the booth. The fixtures are recessed both above and below.

[blue moon]

We deal with this very often. Trying to match some of the phthalated inks to the new versions. We'll mix and make it look good under the two different fluorescents in the shop and then bring to the window for a final check. Holly crap can there be a difference!!!

Luckily, we only have to match what we produced before and have samples to compare it to, but to really do it right, I can see having to be on the same page with the customer.

pierre

[Prosperi-Tees]

I have the most trouble with the primary colors but im more used to matching paint rather than ink but it's almost the same.