FAQs

DigiEye was not designed to replace a spectrophotometer, but to offer a solution that works for products which cannot be handled easily by a Spectrophotometer. There are many products and substrates that a Spectrophotometer cannot measure because they are not flat or they are speckled or multi coloured. DigiEye can measure practically anything and has the advantage that it also provides a colour calibrated image for remote viewing. Unlike spectrophotometers which average out colour data, DigiEye can pinpoint a single point to measure and can also map any variations from the known standard. This makes it adept at measuring patterns, twist carpet and food ingredients or components within food such as the proportion of fruit in yoghurt or a cereal mixture. These are all substrates that cannot be measured with conventional instruments. Using a DigiEye, a traditional lightbox or VisionView and a spectrophotometer in tandem offers a full solution for almost every application. No system offers the full solution, but you can be confident in your colour and product appearance assessment if you apply this all-encompassing solution.

To operate DigiEye you will need a DigiEye cube, either 700mm or 1300mm, a Windows 7 PC and an Eizo Colour Edge calibrated Monitor. The full set of equipment is supplied by VeriVide when you purchase a full DigiEye system. If you are a buyer who is only reviewing images received from your supplier then you will not require a DigiEye cube, for this you will need a DigiView station only. The computer must meet or exceed the following specification:  

• • Processor: Core i5 or i7 Processor (AMD processors are not permissible)

 

• • Memory: 8GB Ram

 

• • Hard Drive: 120 Gb HDD Minimum (For large storage of images and faster processing it is recommended to purchase larger capacity hard drive, faster processor and higher RAM)

 

• • Graphics Card: 1 GB Minimum

 

• • Ports: Minimum of 4 x USB ports, preferably USB2

 

• • Accessories: Windows compatible Keyboard & Mouse

 

• • Internet Connection: Highly recommended for remote technical support

 

• • Supported Operating System: Windows 7 (32 Bit or 64 Bit) (full features available to Windows 7 users only)

 

• • Video Interface: 4K Video Output DP (Display Port) or HDMI Output - MUST HAVE THIS OUTPUT from the graphics card

 

• • Optical Drive: DVDRW (DVD & CD read and write)

  VeriVide are currently working on full compatibility for Windows 10.

Each purchase of a DigiEye system comes with two days training included. VeriVide recommends at least one day of training for each user and training can be provided as a group or individually. Additional DigiEye training can be purchased at any time, useful when new members of staff join. DigiEye service and support packages can be purchased through VeriVide or your dealer. Many DigiEye features can be picked up by anyone. Some advanced features are used only by senior colour and quality control professionals. General colour knowledge is helpful, Colour training is available through VeriVide. If your question hasn't been answered, simply drop an email to sales@verivide.com or call +44 (0)116 284 7790 and we will be happy to answer!

Please head over to our Trend Forecasting section, where you will be able to purchase the latest Pantone trend books. The latest issue of VIEWPOINT COLOUR is currently avaliable, which contains Autumn/Winter 2022/2023 colour forecasts, trend-led colour changes and much more, for only £75. The Pantone View Home & Interiors is a trend book published annually; it is usually launched in March and contains the trends for the following year. The 2022 volume is available to buy now  and features a portable colour card highlighting colour direction, a USB drive of forecast imaging and a download of Pantone Connect providing access to digital data for all Pantone colours for your design software. Please email us at colourstandards@verivide.com if you would like to purchase the latest trend book.

Yes, the Pantone View Home & Interiors Kit also includes small strips of the cotton swatches in the trend colours used in the book. This costs £375.00 ex VAT and delivery. The colours are also referenced in the book and so individual SMART swatches of the colours can also be purchased separately for you to send to clients or suppliers.

Yes, you can use a Pantone Formula Guide to match fabrics, however dyers, fabric suppliers and mills will find it much more difficult to produce a good colour match to this Pantone book. The Formula Guide coated version is particularly a problem because of the shiny appearance of the paper. The Fashion, Home & Interiors range of colours have been specifically developed because they are achievable on fabric whereas the Formula Guide coated is for Graphic Designers to use for logo colours and printing on clear film and white paper and many of the colours are too saturated (bright) to be achievable on fabric. The Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors range also contains colours more suitable for clothing and home textiles. We advise that you select colours from the Pantone Fashion, Home & Interiors books and then send your suppliers individual SMART swatches for them to use as a colour standard. The only exception to this would be printing of licensed artwork onto fabric as most licences artwork colours are specified using the Formula Guide Coated numbers.

If you are using mixed materials to create a homeware or accessory range there is a challenge to colour match the hard and soft goods to match or coordinate. The mixed materials in the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors colour range facilitates excellent colour matching. When producing soft and hard goods for the same range we recommend that the soft goods are matched to cotton TCX SMART swatch standards and the hard goods to Pantone Plastic Standard Chips which replicate the cotton TCX colour range on large Polypropylene chips. The same colours are available in both materials. Pantone Plastic Standard Chips are available in the Fashion, Home + Interiors colours as well as the Graphics Coated colours and can be purchased individually, for more information please contact pantone@verivide.com. Alternatively the Fashion, Home & Interiors range also includes the Pantone TPG paper books which can also be used for specifying the colour of non-fabric goods, these are in the same colour range as the cotton swatches and are created by coating the non optic paper rather than printing for a truly opaque finish. Individual colours are also available as large TPG sheets. Please note applying the same colour to different materials may cause different colour appearances due to surface construction, reflectance and other variables.

The Pantone Fashion, Home + Interior system uses a numbering system based on the position of the colour in LCH colour space, therefore, each colour is assigned a six-digit number which defines its position in the 3d colour space. Each pair of digits has a specific meaning: the first pair of digits refers to the lightness or darkness of the colour on a scale between 11 (lightest) and 19 (darkest).
The second pair of digits specifies the hue on a scale between 01 and 65 going around the hue circle, where approximately 10 is yellow, 15 is orange, 20 is red, 30 is purple, 40 is blue, 50 is blue/green and 60 is green. The third pair of digits describes the chroma level of the colour on a scale of 00 for a neutral to 64 for the brightest colour.
In the Pantone Graphics PMS system the majority of the colours are referred to using a three- or four-digit number followed by a C or U. There are also a small number of named colours, such as the 18 base colours like PANTONE Reflex Blue or PANTONE Orange 021 which are named after the pigment which Pantone are replicating.
Metallic colours are 3 or 4 digit numbers beginning with an 8, Packaging Metallic colours are 5 digit numbers beginning with 10 and Pastel & Neon colours are 3 or 4 digit numbers beginning with 8 or 9.
The letter suffix refers to the paper stock on which it is printed: a "C" for coated or gloss paper or a "U" for uncoated paper. Metallic and Packaging metallic colours are only available on coated paper.

To find the closest Pantone colour to CMYK/RGB/HTML/L*a*b* values use a physical book or Pantone Connect software. If your supplier provides CMYK, RGB, Hex or L*a*b* values to colour match instead of a colour standard you can convert to the closest Pantone colour. It is possible to look up some data in Pantone Graphics books. The Pantone CMYK Guide provides CMYK values for every colour in the Guide. Likewise the Pantone Color Bridges provide RGB and HTML codes for the Pantone PMS spot colours and CMYK values for the closest colour match to these in 4-color process printing. For digital design Pantone Connect enables the conversion, you can search, sort, and filter efficiently through all Pantone colours and libraries and convert RGB, Hex, CMYK, and L*a*b* values to closest Pantone matches. Pantone Connect allows import of all Pantone libraries into Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. Once the colours are imported it is possible to search for the closest colour to the supplied data. Photoshop will default to the closest mathematical colour. The steps to do this are as follows:

1. From the main toolbar, click the foreground/background colour square to launch the Adobe Colour Picker
2. Type the desired values into the text boxes provided. Note the change in colour on the picker window.
3. Click the Colour Libraries button
4. Select your desired Pantone library from the drop list
5. Photoshop will display a range of seven colours, with one colour outlined with a black border. This is the default colour which is closest to the values entered
6. It is important to note that the above results are mathematical, and are also dependent upon the colour settings used in Photoshop. Results should always be compared to a current Pantone guide or book to ensure accurate colour.

With Pantone Connect you are able to integrate Abode design software with Pantone Colours from every Pantone library easily into your design files. Some features in the Pantone Connect software are free but cross referencing between ranges and import of colours into Adobe requires a Premium licence. Use of Pantone Connect requires a user to sign up for an account which is then available to them on all of their devices. With Pantone Connect it is possible to: Search, sort, and filter efficiently through all Pantone colours and libraries Convert RGB, Hex, CMYK, and L*a*b* values to closest Pantone matches Cross-reference between Pantone Colour Systems Create and share colour palettes with your team to facilitate better colour communication and collaboration

No, fabric swatches are only available for colours in the Pantone Fashion, Home +Interior range, all of the other Pantone ranges (e.g. Coated and Uncoated) are produced on printed paper not fabric. The Pantone Fashion, Home +Interior range colours have 6 digit numbers and they are available on three different substrates: 2626 colours are available as Cotton swatches where the numbers have 6 digits and are suffixed TCX e.g. 11-0601 TCX, purchase Cotton fabric swatches 203 unique colours are available as Polyester swatches where the numbers have 6 digits and are suffixed TSX e.g. 14-1906 TSX, purchase Polyester swatches 21 unique colours are available as Nylon swatches where the numbers have 6 digits and are suffixed or are suffixed TN e.g. 16-2150 TN, purchase Nylon swatches We try to maintain stock of at least 2 swatches (more of popular colours) of every one of the 2850 FHI colours ready for same day despatch if orders are placed before 12.30pm. To purchase fabric swatches (and cut down variations of these) see the swatch ordering page of our website.

Why is my Pantone swatch labelled revised standard, have they changed the colour? Revised Standard means that the dye recipe has changed since the colour was first established; it may not have been recently. The colour will still match the original colour standard under D65. The first Pantone TCX colours were formulated in 2007 these 1925 colours are still in the range, however dyeing technology has changed since and some dyes are no longer available. The recipes of some colours were changed in response to customer demand, to make them more reproducible in the real world and to reduce problems achieving the colour. Pantone has worked closely with a number of dyeing mills to optimise colour matching, where difficulty remained the decision was made to reformulate the colour. It does not mean that the actual colour swatch has changed as the revised recipe is formulated to match the original colour perfectly under D65 daylight lighting. The swatches are marked up to alert you to the possibility that the colour may be slightly different under another light source (metameric).