Visual color matching plastic materials

Is the color standard based on the same material as the desired match demands The color match becomes very difficult if the color standard is based in a plastic material that is different from the desired match plastic. A Pantone standard, an opaque painted paper, is still frequently used as a color standard. However, a Pantone paper standard does not address the issues of opacity, gloss, and texture, which are essential to color matching plastic materials. Similarly, painted metal color standards possess gloss levels that often exceed the range capable for most polymers. This factor also further complicates a visual color match in plastic materials with lower gloss. Thus, if possible, secure the color standard in the same material that the match is desired. 

It is very important to understand the plastic material before starting a color match Know the polymer, its limitations, processing conditions, physical properties, and other attributes. The more information known about the polymer, the more assured and defined is the visual color match. 

There are many available methods for mixing colorants into plastic materials. Choosing a laboratory method that will most closely match the production process is ideal, but not usually the norm. Colorant dispersions in plastic materials determine the perceived color. Thus, choosing a consistent, reliable mixing method that closely mimics production dispersions is critical to a good visual color match. 

The character of AR/TS is changing. Materials, equipment and applications are all increasingly sophisticated. There is more need for expert personnel, yet flexibility and breadth of outlook are required to cope with new situations. How does one predict the weatherability of plastics when twenty years service is the objective The organizers of a 1967 symposium on the subject felt obliged to conclude that after a century the problem is still far from a satisfactory solution (9). How does one predict with reliability the hazard to a large population of a new food additive or soap bacteriostat over a long period of time How does one deal with subjective properties of chemicals such as taste and flavor The synthetic sweeteners in use today have all been discovered accidentally is this the way to run a chemical business How are reluctant old timers weaned from visual color matching to computers ... 

Paradoxically, exact color matches are at the same time very coimnon and very rare. They are common in the sense that any two sections of the same uniformly colored surface or material will usually match physically and therefore also visually. Otherwise, exact color matches are rare. For example, samples of paints of the same name and specification, intended to match, seldom do so exactly if drawn from separate batches. Pigments of identical chemical specification generally do not cause surfaces to match if they are ground to different particle sizes or suspended within different binders. Physical matches of different materials, such as plastics and fabrics, are usually impossible because differing binders or colorants must be used. 

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