Match a custom color.

[CARMELHILL]

I want to add some trim around some windows and some vinyl siding vents that are a specif color from the manufacturer. Trying to manually get the color to match on the VW color wheel and custom color area is too time consuming and almost impossible to get it to look right. Is there an easier way of using some kind of eye dropper tool outside of VW to import a custom color.

My fastest way right now is to make a color swatch in Photoshop and import the color as a flat matte texture. Annoying, but is that the only way to get an accurate color of a real world object?

[Kool Aid]

Would any of these methods work?

[HP Sauce]

You can (must?) use the RGB entry panel in VW. There is no dropper function in Window's colour picker app (which, if trying to match something on screen, is not ideal anyway unless you're certain your coloursync is exact). I would get the RGB from manufacturer and enter that.

Kool: Unfortunately Windows does not come with an equivalent to OSX's system-wide colour-pick/drop utility (or at least, not as far as XP). Speaking of which, what is the far-right pane you have there, web-safe colours? If so are they not already part of the Colour Palettes pane?

[Kool Aid]

Kool: Unfortunately Windows does not come with an equivalent to OSX's system-wide colour-pick/drop utility (or at least, not as far as XP).

It doesn't? Well, then our friend, the baby, got a rather raw deal from Dell. Yeah: tough.

[HP Sauce]

Indeed not, the Windows one is terrible. If you ever used MSPaint, it's that exact panel. RGB/HSB and that's it. No pick/drop, CMYK, swatches, etc etc.

Luckily he has more than enough resources to run OSX alongside 7, just for the colour picker app.

[Kool Aid]

He also needs a a professional-level computer/OS, not a yeahbaby from some Dell.

[HP Sauce]

Now now, technically he has a workstation-class computer right there. Slap OSX on it and you have a slightly more expensive, somewhat slower version of a Mac Pro.

[Kool Aid]

Surely you are not encouraging these el cheapo yeahbabies to disregard software licencing conditions?

[brudgers]

If he runs 10.6 he can actually get worse openGL performance than 10.5.

Edited December 16, 2009 by brudgers

[D Wood]

Getting back to the topic:

The only times I have tried to create a particular colour (by duplicating a standard one and changing the RGB sliders) using the palette that Kool Aid shows, the values I entered didn't "stick". I would exit the colour, and when I opened it again the values were different to what I entered and thought I had saved, so I wound up with a colour different to both the one I started with and the one I wanted.

I'm on v12.5 - has this been fixed in later versions?

[brudgers]

There was a recent thread where someone was trying to pick a CYMK color on their Mac and kept getting the wrong color in Vectorworks.

The obvious reason of course is that subtractive color systems like CYMK are not directly supported on additive devices like a computer monitor.

[CARMELHILL]

Sorry guys, I grew up on Windows in grammar school, high school, and college. And Dell was always the most solid and stable platform. So now, by default, I am continuing to use it with my business.

Too late to relearn something new.

I know that tidal wave of Mac's is coming. Everyday Mac is gaining market share while Windows continues to scratch it's head.

Life sucks.

[Kool Aid]

Hee, hee??I was 32 years old when I bought my first (CP/M) computer in 1984. I guess my generation is more able to learn new things than you kids!

My only prior experience was a one-week Basic-programming course when entering the Uni 1971.

EDIT

The latter using a Hewlett-Packard 2000B time-sharing machine with 32 Teletype terminals across the campus. Programs were saved on paper tape?

Edited December 19, 2009 by Kool Aid

[brudgers]

I want to add some trim around some windows and some vinyl siding vents that are a specif color from the manufacturer. Trying to manually get the color to match on the VW color wheel and custom color area is too time consuming and almost impossible to get it to look right. Is there an easier way of using some kind of eye dropper tool outside of VW to import a custom color.

My fastest way right now is to make a color swatch in Photoshop and import the color as a flat matte texture. Annoying, but is that the only way to get an accurate color of a real world object?

Vectorworks color pallets are xml files with CMYK parameters.

If you have a CMYK representation, then you could create your own XML color description.

That's about as close as you'll get to a real world color.