Paint Color Matching Machines

Hello,

Was just wondering about the machines, I guess they are called Photometers, that most paint stores now seem to have to match colors. The one where you put in a sample piece having the old color on it, and it cranks out the formula for the new paint mix.

How good are they in practice ? (will be trying to match an exterior house color)

Is it necessary to calibrate them often ?

Do they all use the same brand of machine, or are some acknowledged to be "better" than others in matching ? Any experiences in what the Benjamin Moore stores use ?

How do they match the "sheen" ? e.g., exterior paints (and I imagine interior also) come in everything from flat to real glossy. Do they match this also ?

Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Bob

Reply to
Robert11
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Last time I took a chip to a paint store they matched the color perfectly. Real paint store, not a box store. Old-timer mixed the paint, took a sample, used a hair dryer to dry the paint, adjusted the color, repeated sampling, asked me if it was ok. It was Ben Moore, but I have no clue about their machines. You choose the sheen from samples, and a minor variance would seem really unimportant in the scheme of things.

Reply to
Norminn

My neighbor used one at a local hardware store and it did a good job at matching the color.

What he ran into is he took a sample that was not exposed to the sun allot so when he painted around his opening of his house that area was allot brighter than what he wanted. :-)

Reply to
Moe Jones

matching the color.

a [l] lot so when he painted around his opening of his house that area was a [l] lot brighter than what he wanted. :-)

Another thing is if you take a sample in that isn't spiffy clean, it'll match the dirty color just as well...

They're useful in their place but have their limitations...

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Reply to
dpb

They've gotta be a godsend for paint dealers. Less storage space, less unsold colors.

My paint store carrys six varietys of "base"; flat, semi-gloss and gloss. ( indoor and outdoor )

When we were looking for a certain trim color for the house, my wife experimented with hobby acrylics until we got the color we wanted. Took the swatch to the store, got 2 gallons of semi-gloss in the exact color. PERFECT !!

The only caution; Bring in a sample bigger than a fingernail, and, on the material you're going to paint. ( the matcher-upper is only as good as the sample it sees )

Reply to
Anonymous

wrote: ...

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I suspect there are far more choices than that -- most of the above will also come in a "light/white" or "dark" tint base, oil-base/latex, metal/wood/masonry/etc., surface, etc., etc., etc., ...

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Reply to
dpb

My 2 cents -- I recently took a book into Home Depot, wanting a paint color that was one of the colors on the book cover. The paint "person" held up the book cover to the computer "camera(?)", and the paint I left the store with was and absolutely perfect match. -- pj

Reply to
pj

Last week-end I took a drive through a recently "gentrified" section of my town. Several square miles. We're talking large, two story homes built, oh,

1900-1930, now all gussied up.

Every house was painted and trimmed in a different color! No two alike.

I would have hated, aboslutely hated, to be working the paint department at the nearest Home Depot store for the past five years.

Reply to
HeyBub

Don't see what difference it would make -- other than basic white, everything has to be mixed anyway, and I'd wager 99.44% of the colors simply came off the "select a color" paint chips which are programmed to automagically mix them anyway...

Or did you have something else in mind???

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Reply to
dpb

I just learned a few months ago that "eggshell" is a type of base and not a color. I believe it falls between flat & semi-gloss.

Reply to
Kitep

I live in the desert, so picking a chip to take in for matching can be difficult. One tip here is to remove the metal access cover for the cable coax (outside splitter box). In my case, for exterior paint choice this was the least faded and closer to the original. The location of the box cover gets less sun. Based on this we used a printed color chart and matched a perfect match. Still haven't used one of those machines, yet.

-- Oren

"The voices in my head may not be real, but they have some good ideas!"

Reply to
Oren

They do a terrible job of matching fabric color -- especially carpeting in my experience. I finally had to get a gray-haired guy at Kelly-Moore to do it the old fashioned way. Paul in San Francisco

Reply to
Paul MR

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