Open Color Communication

FreieFarbe obtained a research contract from the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) that led to DIN SPEC 16699 Open Color Communication [4]. A DIN SPEC is not a DIN standard, but in some cases, it can serve as the basis for a standard.

The DIN SPEC is currently available for download. The association has also published a reference implementation, the CIELAB HLC Color Atlas (Figure 1). The term HLC (Figure 2) consists of the letters H for Hue, L for Lightness, and C for Chroma.

Figure 1: The CIELAB color space with additional brightness levels.© Professor Bernhard Hill, Aachen

Figure 2: The HLC color circle in 10-degree segments.

The atlas includes a freely available PDF version that can be used for soft proofs on screen, for example. The core product, however, is a printed edition [5].

The CIELAB color space presented by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage in 1976 [6] forms the basis for freieFarbe's atlas. The non-protectable and royalty-free CIELAB not only describes specific hues but also clearly defines all visible colors.

The CIELAB gamut includes the gamuts for both the RGB and CMYK color models, thus allowing for easy conversion, and because CIELAB can describe any visible color, it is a good neutral format for referencing colors to users of other color palettes. CIELAB is also device independent, which means the color you print is more likely to match the color that appears on your monitor.

Conclusion

FreieFarbe has only been around for three years, and the organization is just getting started with the international effort for open standards and better color communication. As they continue to refine their technical vision, more of their attention will turn to advocacy. It will no doubt take years to untangle the maze of incompatible industrial color palettes, but freieFarbe is laying the groundwork for a better solution that could serve as a blueprint for tomorrow's graphic designers.