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HLC Colour Atlas - New also as XL edition

The new HLC* We see Colour Atlas as a novel basis for all stages of professional colour communication - from design to the finished product. The printed atlas is the central working tool. The ring binder contains 2040 (or over 13,000 for the XL) CIELAB HLC colours, which are systematically and intuitively arranged according to hue/colour type, lightness/brightness and chroma/colourfulness.


Ring binder	Single pages H90 and H100	Test protocol

The HLC Colour Atlas (XL) is produced by the Proof GmbH on an Epson SC-P9000V Spectro printer at high cost for quality optimisation. The printing system used is predominantly used in the areas of proofing for pre-press, fine art printing and art reproduction. Thanks to the additional colours orange, green and violet, even highly saturated colours can be reproduced. To further increase colour accuracy, iterative CMYK optimisations are carried out on the software side. In this way we achieve an average DeltaE2000 of 0.8, most colour patches even a DeltaE2000 of 0.3. The colour accuracy achieved was not feasible a few years ago, it approaches that of the far more expensive varnish printing.

The HLC Colour Atlas (XL) is available for purchase at the Online shop of Proof GmbH. The price is 149 euros for the standard edition or the introductory price for the XL edition is 399 euros, in each case plus VAT and shipping.

Free file package

The following files of the HLC Colour Atlas can be downloaded from the Download page download individually or as a package:

PDF version: HLC Colour Atlas for soft proofs on screen, for self-printing, for quick gamut comparison (CIELAB, sRGB, CMYK according to FOGRA39/51/52).
Measurement report of the printed HLC Colour Atlas with target/actual comparison and DeltaE calculations (Excel)
ASE colour libraries for the Adobe CS and CC programmes, with which one can use the colours shown in the atlas directly in the applications by mouse click (Attention: With 2040 colour patches a longer loading time is to be expected).
sRGB and CMYK colour value tables in Excel format
Spectral data 380-730 nm in 10 nm intervals: the CXF3 format is compatible with industrial colour formulation systems in different industries, such as printing inks, paints, plastics or textiles.

On the download page you will also find the file package for the HLC Colour Atlas XL with similar content, but without the ASE colour library, as the large number of colours would cause unacceptably long loading times.

Feel free to pass on the data - commercial purposes are also permitted (Creative Commons or zlib licence - see http://freiefarbe.de/licence).

Basis: CIELAB colour model (HLC)

HLC colour wheel at 10° angle
(H. Everding CC-BY-SA 4.0)

The atlas is an exemplary implementation of the CIELAB colour spacewhich was introduced by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage in 1976 and has since become widely accepted in colour management, measurement and formulation worldwide. The model has great advantages:

not only certain gamuts, but all visible colours are clearly defined
free calculability (e.g. any gradations, counter colours, intermediate colours)
perceptually correct design
HLC display: intuitive structure according to hue/brightness/colourfulness, easy to understand
Unhindered dissemination, as mathematically defined, non-protectable and licence-free

Open Standards, Creative Commons Licence, Non-Profit Sponsor

The project is completely based on open standards - for the colour definitions it is the CIELAB colour model, for the production of the physical samples it is proof printing systems according to ISO 12647-7 and for the exchange of spectral data it is the CxF3 file format. We publish all data under CreativeCommons licence. This means: All users can freely use the developed colour data and samples and develop them further.

At the non-profit organisation freieFarbe e.V., the focus is not on business management considerations, but on the Promoting open and free colour communicationwhich we consider to be urgently needed. Therefore, we see ourselves as a suitable sponsor of the project.

The experiences also flow into our DIN-Forschungsprojekt „Open Color Communication“ which describes colour communication on the basis of open standards.

Thank you for the support!

The HLC Colour Atlas project is the result of intensive cooperation between the experts within freieFarbe e.V. The project is generously supported by other external partners.

Association members

Jan-Peter Homann is supervising the project with its expert knowledge and also represents the approach within the framework of a research contract at DIN. The project Holger Everding produced HLC/Lab colour fans represent the starting signal and programming basis. Peter Hunter supports the project with design services and public relations. Eric Soder provides design and conceptual as well as technical support. Matthias Betz contributes English texts, produces prototypes and final product, and also handles distribution.

ColorLogic GmbH

… ist „ein unabhängiges Unternehmen, das sich auf die Entwicklung erstklassiger Farbmanagement-Technologien und -Produkte konzentriert.“ ColorLogic unterstützt das Projekt mit Software, welche für die automatisierte spektrale Erfassung und Qualitätsoptimierung tausender Einzelfarben, die Erstellung von Qualitätsprotokollen sowie Dateiformat-Konvertierungen eingesetzt wird.

GMG GmbH & Co. KG

„GMG ist ein führender Entwickler und Anbieter von hochwertigen Farbmanagement-Softwarelösungen.“ (Website) Die von GMG beigesteuerten Proofmedien und Software-Lizenzen werden zur konstanten farbverbindlichen Druckeransteuerung und zur Qualitätssicherung/-Dokumentation im Druckprozess eingesetzt.

Epson Germany GmbH

The leading global player in the field of printing systems is contributing the printing ink required in the project.

Scribus

Gregory Pittman produced scripts for the automated generation of colour samples. Together with Christoph Schäfer, he also edited English texts.

*Anmerkung: In der Farbmetrik ist die Schreibweise „LCH“ oder „LCh“ verbreitet. Die Reihenfolge „HLC“ bringt das bei der Farbabmusterung übliche Vorgehen nach „Farbton – Helligkeit – Buntheit“ zum Ausdruck und ist ansonsten inhaltlich identisch.[:en]

Order

HLC Colour Atlas and new HLC Colour Atlas XL

We developed the HLC* Colour Atlas and see it as a new basis for all stages of professional colour communication - from design to the final product. The printed atlas is the central tool. The ring binder contains 2040 CIELAB-HLC colours (over 13,000 in the XL version), which are systematically arranged by hue/base colour, lightness/brightness and chroma/saturation.


Ring binder	Page with hues H90 and H100	Media wedge for quality control

The HLC Colour Atlas is produced by Proof GmbH on an Epson SC-P9000V Spectro printer with high effort for quality optimisation. This printing system is mainly used for prepress, fine art printing and art reproduction proofing. Thanks to the additional colours orange, green and violet, highly saturated colours can also be produced. To further increase colour accuracy, interactive CMYK optimisations are carried out on the software side. In this way we achieve a mean DeltaE2000 of 0.8, most colour fields even a DeltaE2000 of smaller than 0.3. The achieved colour accuracy was not yet feasible a few years ago, it is close to that of the far more expensive varnish printing.

You can buy the HLC Colour Atlas in the Online Shop of Proof GmbH. The price is 149 Euros or 399 Euros for the XL version plus VAT and shipping.

Free software package

The following files can be downloaded from the download page:

PDF version: HLC Colour Atlas for soft proofs on screen, for printing, for fast gamut comparison (CIELAB, sRGB, CMYK according to FOGRA39/51/52).
Measurement report of the printed HLC Colour Atlas with target/real values comparison and DeltaE calculations (Excel).
ASE colour libraries for the Adobe CS and CC programs, with which you can use the colours shown in the atlas directly by mouse click in the applications
sRGB and CMYK colour value tables in Excel format
Spectral data 380-760 nm at 10 nm intervals: the CXF3 format is compatible with industrial colour formulation systems in various industries, such as printing inks, coatings, plastics or textiles.

We want to spread the idea of free colour: you are welcome to pass on the data - commercial purposes are also permitted (Creative Commons licence CC-BY-ND 4.0).

Basis: CIELAB colour model (HLC)

HLC Colour Wheel in 10° hue angle increments

The atlas is an exemplary implementation of the CIELAB colour spacewhich was introduced by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage in 1976 and has since established itself worldwide in colour management, colour measurement and colour formulation. The model has great advantages:

not only certain gamuts, but all visible colours are clearly defined
free predictability (e.g. any gradation, counter colours, intermediate colours)
perceptually structured by HLC: intuitive according to hue/brightness/saturation, easy to understand
unhindered distribution, since mathematically defined, not protectable and license-free

Open Standards, Creative Commons Licence, non-profit organisation

The project is completely based on open standards - for colour definitions it is the CIELAB colour model, for the production of physical samples it is proof printing systems according to ISO 12647-7 and for the exchange of spectral data it is the CxF file format. All data is published under CreativeCommons licence. This means: All users can freely use the developed colour data and samples and further develop them.

With the non-profit freieFarbe e.V., the focus is not on economic considerations, but on promoting open and free colour communicationwhich we consider urgently necessary. That is why we see ourselves as a suitable supporting body of the project.

The experience also flows into our DIN SPEC 16699 research project „Open Colour Communication“which describes colour communication based on free and open standards.

Thank you for contributing

The HLC Colour Atlas project is the result of intensive cooperation between the experts within freieFarbe e.V. Additionally, external partners generously support the project.

FreeColour Members

Jan-Peter Homann oversees the project with his expert knowledge and he also represents the approach in a research project for the German Standards Institute (DIN). Holger Everding initiated the creation of a Lab-based colour reference toolset by producing Lab and HLC fan decks covering the 4C offset printing gamut. Peter Hunter contributes to the project with design and public relations work. Eric Soder supports it in terms of design as well as conceptional and technical assistance. Matthias Betz contributes English texts, produces prototypes and final products, and he undertakes the distribution as well.