Is there a book for color identification?

Question

I'm looking for a "dictionary" of colors, basically a book that has samples of colors with the corresponding name. Obviously, I'm looking for the most exhaustive book out there. The names of subtle shades and hues is what I'm after. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Hmmm. Haven't found a book yet - but I found this:

http://people.csail.mit.edu/jaffer/Color...

It has several different exhaustive lists.

Answer 2

How 'bout a gizmo instead? (first link)

Pantone is the name that comes to mind for most graphics types when they think of color. The company contracts with several companies to provide predictions of what colors will be hot and cool in upcoming years. And because these companies use those colors, Pantone's predictions come true!

Seems like Pantone has moved away from providing books of color to software. In particular, they've been involved with gizmos that help graphic designers match the colors on their screen to the colors coming out of their expensive printers. What you see is what you get! When I worked for a newspaper, the news art editor stuck a gizmo to my screen that read the colors of the light to calibrate my screen with our printing presses.

But Pantone's colors tend to have identification numbers rather than names. It's the companies they work for that tend to give the colors names like "soft eggshell", and "hot date pink".

Answer 3

http://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Chrom...

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Thin-Laye...

Answer 4

Check out this wikipedia article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_col...

There really isn't a book for all those subtle shades as most of the names are invented to sell paint or clothing. The same shades or ones with minor differences are sold every year, they just change the name to sound stylish, so pink becomes "salmon" and dark purple ends up "berry."

Answer 5

You'll want either a Pantone strip book or a Munsell book.

Pantone is used more often for printing colors and gives each color a number.  I've used them when coordinating projects with other parties and printers.  It helps to have a standardized "red"!  I've only seen pantones sold in full sets.

Munsells are used more for actual, in real life colors.  I prefer the Munsell book in my job, where I need a regulated system to compare my scientific samples.  It lays to colors out in grids so I can compare them to each of the samples.  If you purchase a Munsell you can go ahead and just buy packets of pages you think you need, or you can buy a full pack.

If all else fails, paint sample cards from a paint store can work!