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Comment by mateja | Hacker News Reader

I've wanted a ColorChecker as a nice-to-have for a while, but real ones are kind of expensive (understandably so) for me.

As it turns out, paint samples that you can get at the hardware store for free are made with remarkably accurate colors. Although there are many like it, I found this nice video[1] about how to DIY a color checker. He lists the names of the colors in the description. But at least he confirms that even a near match works well!

However, I found that the paint companies change their colors slightly pretty frequently. But the Wikipedia article on ColorChecker[2] has a listing of the exact colors in the ColorChecker. So you can use a site like Match My Paint Color[3] to find the nearest paint color to put together a list of color names that you can then go scoop up at your local hardware store!

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pusFS7JmKQM 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ColorChecker 3. https://www.matchmypaintcolor.com/

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>the Wikipedia article on ColorChecker[2] has a listing of the exact colors in the ColorChecker

That's only exact under CIE Illuminant C lighting, which approximates overcast outdoor lighting. Most indoor lighting has a lower color temperature than this, and in the case of LED/fluorescent lighting, a more uneven spectrum. To accurately duplicate the colors of a ColorChecker under all lighting conditions, you need the full color spectrum of each panel. Wikipedia links to a web site with this data:

https://babelcolor.com/colorchecker.htm

> I've wanted a ColorChecker as a nice-to-have for a while, but real ones are kind of expensive (understandably so) for me.

Everyone has their own budget (esp. for hobbies), but if you're into photography, a USD 100-120 'accessory' does not seem "expensive":

* https://calibrite.com/us/product/colorchecker-classic/

* https://calibrite.com/us/product/colorchecker-passport-photo...

How much would a new (or new-to-you/used) camera body cost? Or a lens? Given that it would last probably over a decade, that's a pretty low annual amortization cost. Perhaps ask for it as a birthday or Christmas present?

Though it may depend on your subject matter: probably less of a need for it if you do landscape or street photography, as compared to portraits or products.

Some of the monitor calibration devices can get more pricey if you want to go down the colour calibration rabbit hole:

* https://www.datacolor.com/spyder/products/

Like Pantone books, color checkers don't last long before the colors fade, maybe a year or less. I remember being surprised at how much money we were spending on them.

I don't know anything about it, but I find this interesting, perhaps slightly surprising. It doesn't suprise me that it would fade, but, that being a presumably known problem, do the color checkers not have a good cover/case for storage? (something foil backed or similar to really block out the light)? Or do they even fade quickly just from being taken out briefly for use?

The colors may also fade/drift upon exposure to air and humidity, not just light.

Oh, interesting. That does make sense.

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