Blog
- Adobe products soon without Pantone colours!
- Mixing acrylic colours on the basis of the HLC Colour Atlas
- Painting by numbers based on the HLC Colour Atlas
- Annual General Meeting on 06.11.2021 in Ilmenau
- matchmycolor: New Corporate Design with the freieFarbe HLC Colour Atlas
- Webinar IDUG Stuttgart: Cross-media preparation of graphic and image data
- Results of the Annual General Meeting on 31.10.2020
- freeColour in ColorGATE Productionserver
- freecolour in the matchmycolor Cloud
- gamutmap - HLC Colour Atlas XL online
- Planning the Annual General Meeting
- Financial Report 2019
- On our own account: Resignation of the 2nd Chairperson
- viscom Düsseldorf
- On our own account: Treasurer wanted
- Adobe and Pantone
- RAL and Pantone: new prices
- Colour marks: Telekom vs. Lemonade
- Fogra CM-Café: How to protect colour marks?
Free colour!
The non-profit association freieFarbe e.V. is an association of German and Swiss colour professionals.
We would like to give tips and hints on how to create consistent colour in all areas of application. Here we rely on open standards that have long been integrated in the computer and want to show: the computer is an ideal tool for colour, it can make colour free!
What is the problem?
Momentan verlässt man sich bei der professionellen Arbeit mit Farbe auf kommerzielle Farbkollektionen und Farbbücher. Für den Druck sind andere Farbmuster gebräuchlich als für Lackfarbe, Wandfassaden, Folie oder Textilien. Jeder Hersteller kocht sein eigenes Süppchen. Hunderte Farbsysteme sind untereinander kaum kompatibel und in sich nicht berechenbar. Die Folge sind manuelle Farb- und Systemvergleiche und umständliche Farbabmusterung „Pi mal Auge“ – jedesmal aufs Neue.
We would like to show alternatives to this equally common and old-fashioned way of working. We see the future in freely available mathematical colour models such as CIELAB or RGB. The advantages of free colour are huge and the perspectives incredible.
Who is with freieFarbe?
Each of us also has our own reasons - see for yourself:
Membership, donation
Werden Sie Teil der Farbrevolution und profitieren Sie von einem Netzwerk erfahrener Farbanwender. Die Jahresgebühr beträgt 50 EUR, Schüler und Studenten zahlen die Hälfte. Partner-Mitglieder (200 EUR pro Jahr oder aktive Mitarbeit) erhalten auch eine individuelle Seite unter „Partner“.
As we take our non-profit status very seriously, we work on a voluntary basis. Costs for materials, providing, printing, trips, etc. are paid from membership fees.
New members receive a CIELAB colour fan worth EUR 39 as a welcome gift. New partner members receive a CIELAB colour fan set Lab+HLC worth EUR 69.
You are welcome to participate in this website even without membership: Post your own articles, send us suitable downloads, give us your own tips.
Now available: HLC Colour Atlas XL
We see the new HLC Colour Atlas as a basis for all stages of professional colour communication - from design to the finished product. The standard version contains 2040 and the XL version contains over 13000 mathematically-systematically graded CIELAB colour tones.
The free file package contains the PDF version with several gamuts for own printouts of the atlas as well as the spectral data (380-730 nm) of all shades for recipe software.
The print version supplied in the ring binder is produced as an inkjet proof print using state-of-the-art equipment - the print has a colour accuracy that would not have been possible just a few years ago (average DeltaE00 < 0.5), it is comparable to the far more complex varnish printing process.
The price is 149 euros for the standard edition and the introductory price of the XL edition is 399 euros net. Our association members receive a 20% discount.
- Further information
- Files for free download
- Order the printed HLC Colour Atlas or of the HLC Colour Atlas XL
DIN SPEC 16699
Professionelle Farbkommunikation muss nicht zwangsläufig über kommerzielle Farbkollektionen stattfinden. In der DIN SPEC 16699 „Open Colour Communication“ beschreiben wir Vorgehensweisen über den frei verfügbaren mathematischen CIELAB-HLC-Standard, diese gehen von der Designphase bis zur Farbrezeptur mittels Spektraldaten.
DIN SPEC 16699 was officially published in November 2018. The project was commissioned and financially supported by the German Institute for Standardisation.
In this context, we have also joined DIN as a member.
Free download of DIN SPEC 16699
Detailed article
Open Colour Systems Collection
Bring more than 360 colour systems into your design software or programming project. Now with all colour palettes for Adobe CC, Scribus, LibreOffice, Gimp, Lab and RGB colour values in plain text and photos of the colour swatches. Everything can be copied free of charge and distributed under the CC4.0 licence.
Here you can download the OCSC 2.0.
Free Colour Videos
Why does colour have to become freer?
Jürgen Opitz, Holger Everding and Reinhard Zerfaß summarise the basic goals:
Holger Everding and Jan-Peter Homann report on the meaningfulness of free colour and our implementation in the HLC Atlas at the Libre Graphics Meeting 2019:
Peter Jäger reports on our goals and current projects, and why we are You need for this:
Blog Posts
- Adobe products soon without Pantone colours!
- HLC Colour Atlas spectral data are now part of the matchmycolor cloud solution
- Financial Report 2019
- In own matters: Resignation of the 2nd chairman
- viscom Düsseldorf
- On our own behalf: Looking for a Treasurer
- Adobe and Pantone
- All years again: Price increases for RAL and Pantone
- Colour trademark Magenta: Deutsche Telekom vs. Lemonade
- Fogra Colour Management Café: How to protect colour trademarks?
- freeColour, Inkscape and Scribus at the KieLux 2019
- Annual General Meeting 2019
- 09/19: Two times freeColour in Kiel
- For our members:
Invitation to the annual general meeting 21.09.2019 - Pantone contender from Iceland
- picular.co - Google for colours
- LibreGraphics Meeting
- 12th Dresden Color Forum 2019
- ColorGATE & freeColour at FESPA
- DIN SPEC 16699 is officially released
- HLC Colour Atlas XL now available for free
- Presentation at the German Color Science Society
- Budget Calculator Special "Liberated Colours
- High Court Oldenburg: receipt of monetary penalties
- Annual Meeting Tübingen
- Coloro - the colour revolution?
- We are a member of DIN e.V.
Article in the Linux Magazine 09/2019
Free Colour!
Founded in 2016 by a coalition of German and Swiss colour professionals, freieFarbe e.V. is a non-profit association registered in Germany. We want to share tips and hints how to create consistent colour in all fields of application and how the world of colour could be easier. And we want to show: the computer is an ideal tool for colour, it can make colour free!
At the moment, when working with colour, people rely on commercial colour collections that are internally incalculable and hardly compatible with each other. We would like to point out alternatives. Better colour models are available in every computer! Free colour is not only well possible, but also beneficial for all involved parties. If free, non-commercial colour becomes established, this is a revolution in the colour sector - colour would be much cheaper, much easier to use, much more predictable. However, this requires new tools and a lot of persuasion ...
On this website you will find a blog where you can post your own articles. Show interesting examples from your field of application, give your own tips.
Out now: HLC Colour Atlas XL edition
Our own development is now available in 2040 and 13283 colours (standard and XL version). We see the innovative HLC Colour Atlas as the basis for all stages of professional colour communication - from design to the finished product. It follows the DIN SPEC 16699.
The free file package contains the PDF version with several gamuts for on-screen comparison or your own printouts plus the 380-730 nm spectral data of all colours for commercial ink formulation.
The ring binder is produced with state-of-the-art inkjet proofing equipment in a company specialised in this field - the prints have a colour accuracy that would not have been possible a few years ago (average DeltaE00 < 0.5); it is comparable to the far more complex lacquer printing process.
The price is EUR 149 for the standard edition, and the introductory price for the XL edition amounts to EUR 399 (plus shipping and VAT).
Creation of a DIN specification
The German Institute for Standardization, DIN e.V., awarded us a research and development contract for the preparation of the DIN SPEC 16699 "Open Colour Communication which has been published in November 2018. This project was financially supported by DIN.
In this context, we have also joined DIN e.V. as a member.
Open Colour Systems Collection
Bring more than 360 colour systems into your design software or into your programming project. Now with all colour palettes for Adobe CC, Scribus, LibreOffice, Gimp; Lab and RGB colour values in plain text, and photos of the colour fans. Everything can be copied free and passed on under the CC4.0 licence.
You can download the OCSC 2.0 here.
Membership and donation
Become a member, join the colour revolution, and profit from our network of experienced colour users. The annual fee is 50 EUR; for students, it is half that amount. Plus, you get a CIELAB fan (HLC) worth 39 EUR as a welcome gift. Premium members (200 EUR per year or active cooperation) also get an individual partner page to present themselves on freiefarbe.de.
You can also support our work with a donation. The easiest way is by PayPal, where you instantly get a donation receipt.
Videos about free colour
Why must colour be liberated?
Jürgen Opitz, Holger Everding and Reinhard Zerfaß summarise the fundamental goals:
Peter Jäger reports about our goals and current projects, and why we need you for this:
More free colour videos by Peter Jäger
Recommendations for Cross-media Data Preparation from com2publish on Vimeo.
Media-neutral publishing and correct colour across media - pure luck?
Tools for correct cross-media colour - important for a consistent corporate design
FreeColour or FreeColor?
Both! As colour liberation is important worldwide, the international spelling „colour“ will mostly be used in our publications. Caused by availability and with respect to our European domicile we chose „freecolour.org“ as domain name. Some authors do prefer the American spelling „color“ though.