Frequently Asked Questions

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Most Common FAQs

Which light sources is the CAC fitted with?

CAC cabinets are usually fitted with 4 or 5 different light sources. A standard daylight source: CIE D65 or CIE D50 (can sometimes be supplied with both), one or two Point of Sale illuminants such as 840P15, CWF, or LED, of your choice. The set up is completed with UltraViolet (UV) for the detection of optical brightening agents, and a tungsten filament source; CIE A or VeriVide F. Viewing your product under a variety of standardised light sources will highlight any problems such as colour inconstancy or metamerism. This ensures the colour and appearance will be acceptable to the consumer in real world lighting conditions.

What light sources are the CCC fitted with?

Light sources in the CCC Colour Control Cabinets are usually only Daylight (D50 or D65), however, they can be fitted with both types of Daylight upon request as well as a store light or UV if necessary. CCC cabinets are fitted as standard with a single light source – CIE D50 Daylight which is a requirement of ISO 3664:2009. If you need additional light sources to comply with retailer specifications and check for metamerism under store lighting, for example, or to make additional checks on the underlying fluorescence of the base card or paper then please specify this when you request a quotation. Additional light sources cannot be retrofitted therefore please ensure you have included the required lighting when you send your quote request or order  

How to choose the colour and size of my Pantone swatch cards

Choose Pantone Swatch colour from Pantone > Fashion, Home & Interior > The first three products on this page are the Cotton, Polyester or Nylon Brights swatch cards. Please click on the swatch card material required. The following instructions work for all of the swatch card options.
1. Click onto the coloured wheel found under the product description. This will open up an image of the full Pantone palette in that particular range.
2. All the Pantone swatches show as coloured squares, either search through the colours or type the colour number, such as 18-0830, into the search box above the colour palette. The colour that matches the number searched, will then be displayed on its own.
3. To choose the Pantone Swatch colour, click  onto the square to select and then click the orange confirm button to proceed to the next step.
4. To choose the size of the swatch card, click onto the drop down box that will say 'Choose an option' and click on the size required.
5. The original 2 ply option is the standard size of swatch, this is 10cm x 11cm. For alternatives view the size descriptions in the blue box at the bottom of the page.
6. Amend the quantity, if you need more than one swatch of the same colour.
7. Click add to cart.
8. Repeat this process for all the other colours you may require.
9. Proceed to checkout by clicking the basket icon in the top right of the page.
10. Add the billing and delivery address and select the relevant mailing option - express post (essential for next day or high value) or standard post.
11. Continue to the secure payment page with Pay360 to complete the order.
12. We will receive the order and process it accordingly.
  If you have any questions, please email us at colourstandards@verivide.com and we will be happy to advise and help with your order.

Should I get the CMYK Guide set or the Color Bridge Set?

Should I get the CMYK Guide set or the Color Bridge Set? It can be a difficult choice to make. The CYMK system is is a different system to the PANTONE PMS system and so it does not relate to Pantone Spot colours. Need the CMYK equivalent of Pantone PMS Spot colours? Then you should purchase a Color Bridge Set. This is ideal if your clients select PMS colours only to decide they want them printing digitally in 4-color process. Color Bridges display the closest match to the Pantone Spot colours, the client can be advised on the expected outcome. They have squares of Pantone Spot colours with their RGB and HTML code, alongside squares of the closest match using CMYK inks and their percentages. CMYK Guides contain a separate range of 2868 colours, they contain only colours which exist within CMYK colour space. These also give the ink percentages to enable confident use of 4-colour process colours in offset lithographic printing. If you only work with 4 color process, your clients can select colours from these guides with confidence that they can be accurately reproduced.    

Where can I buy Pantone paint?

VeriVide do not sell Pantone paint. We can sell you the Pantone colour standard which your supplier can match to. Pantone is a copyrighted colour system and they do not make paint either! Pantone provides colour standards used by brands and manufacturers, enabling people to communicate colour and set colour specifications. The colour system is licensed to manufacturers of a range of coloured products. Click here for full details of companies holding Pantone licenses for production of coloured materials including paint, powder coat and inks. Unfortunately due to restrictions on shipping paint it must be manufactured in the Country in which it is to be used and therefore Pantone paint is only available where a License is approved to manufacture it. Paint for interiors is in some Pantone colours is now available in a number of Countries in Europe. In the UK some Pantone colours are available as Crown Trade paints in various finishes through Brewers Decorating Centres  , they offer some Pantone Graphics Coated colours in their trade range, Valspar (UK) Corporation Limited were also a licensee - for more information contact them at http://www.valsparpaint.co.uk or Email: customerservice@valsparpaint.co.uk. Please note Pantone colours that are available may be limited to current trend colours and not available in all finishes.

How can I buy a Pantone Colour in paint if it is not part of the pre mixed range?

You will need to purchase a colour standard for the required colour. This can be a Pantone book or a Replacement Page for a Pantone book or even a fabric swatch (depending on the Pantone range your colour is from). VeriVide can sell you the correct colour sample to provide the standard for paint matching. Once you have the colour target (standard) you need to identify a paint wholesaler with colour mixing equipment. They can measure the colour, formulate the pigments required and mix paint to match the specific colour.

What does visual assessment in standardised conditions mean?

To ensure consistency and agreement, visual assessment should be performed under the same lighting conditions at each stage of the supply chain. When viewing under the same lighting conditions, you are creating ‘standardised assessment conditions’. These conditions will improve consistency of results and ultimately mean more accurate decisions and better business outcomes. Visual assessment is simply viewing a product, object or sample. The purpose of visual assessment is to make a judgement on how a product appears. Whether this is to ensure a sample garment looks as intended prior to mass manufacture or to assess particulate contamination during pharmaceutical manufacturing, the fundamentals stay the same. There is an observer and there is an object or sample. However, the results of visual assessment can vary immensely. If you are viewing a fabric sample for a sofa at your office window during the winter, the colour and appearance will differ greatly from what a manufacturer in Piedmont, Italy is seeing at their window and a buyer at a New York department store will see under point of sale lighting, due to the different properties of the light. This will cause differences of opinion, which can delay production times at best and at worst result in loss of sales and penalties for suppliers. VeriVide is a trusted provider of standardised assessment conditions for a number of industries and have developed and maintained standards for over 50 years.

What is DigiGrade?

DigiGrade is a digital fastness grading tool that determines colour fastness grading with objective, accurate and repeatable results. DigiGrade is capable of grading change of shade samples, blue wool end point determination and light fastness grading and expertly handles many other traditional grading challenges. The accuracy versatility and objectivity of this software is why it is trusted by a range of laboratories in the industry. It is also adept at measuring and analysing crocking and staining on light fastness and crocking (wet and dry rubbing). The rubbing tool offers one click crocking testing using a pre-defined filter which eliminates the need for before and after measurements. DigiGrade is fully compliant with BS EN ISO 105-A11:2012 Textiles - Tests for colour fastness. Part A11; Determination of colour fastness grading by digital imaging techniques.

Which DigiEye product should I buy?

Which DigiEye product should I buy? See suggestions in the list below or go to your industry sector or to Solutions of how to tackle common colour problems. DigiEye is developing constantly and if you would like to know if it can help solve your assessment problems please contact the team on sales@verivide.com The decision on which DigiEye product to buy depends on several parameters. These include the size and type of your product and what appearance information you need. For some suggestions of the most suitable DigiEye system and software see the list below which gives many of the most common uses for DigiEye. I’m a buyer and want a system to view remote colour submissions – DigiView is the recommended system. Do you supply a retailer or brand? If you need to image standard and batches to send for remote colour assessment – DigiEye with DigiPix Software is recommended. I’m a supplier and want to measure the colour of my products – DigiEye with DigiPix Software is recommended. I’m a laboratory technician and need to grade colour fastness tests - DigiEye with DigiGrade Software is recommended. I work in Food QA and need to create image standards to check product consistency, quality, shelf life determination. Or I need to create pass fail standards for ingredients or finished products - DigiEye with DigiPix Software is recommended. I work in product design and want a system that will check the washing efficiency of our dishwashers.  DigiEye 1300mm with DigiFull Software is recommended.  

Where can I get DigiEye?

Where can I get DigiEye? The DigiEye range of hardware and software can be purchased in the UK directly from VeriVide, to speak to the DigiEye sales team send your enquiry to sales@verivide.com or complete the website enquiry form. It is also available worldwide through VeriVide authorised distributors. To find your local distributor view the distributor map (those offering DigiEye are clearly marked),or contact us.  

Do I still need a lightbox?

Do I still need a lightbox (light booth) once I invest in DigiEye? Yes, Light boxes have been essential to colour management and product appearance for over 55 years and that will not change anytime soon. VeriVide Colour Assessment Cabinets allow you to check for metamerism using CIE Daylight and Point of Sale lighting and will continue to be necessary to visually detect metamerism and colour inconsistency. The new VisionView light box (light booth) combines both the light box and the DigiView monitor in the same space saving unit, future proofing your colour assessment.

Do I still need a Spectrophotometer?

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.

What do I need to operate DigiEye?

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.