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Spectrophotometer Setup for Liquids

Color is an essential factor for purchasing decisions and taste perception, so the color of liquids like orange juice, sports drinks, apple cider and beer will significantly affect your customers’ opinion of your product and whether they would repurchase it.

Color can be a difficult variable to control during production — natural ingredient colors can vary, causing slightly differing colors. Measuring the color of your liquid with a spectrophotometer liquid setup will allow you to get accurate and reliable results to boost your quality control.

What Is Liquid Color Measurement?

Liquid color measurement is the evaluation of the color properties of a liquid. Depending on the liquid, it will require different techniques to most accurately measure the color. Here is how to measure the color of a liquid depending on its quality:

• Opaque: Opaque liquids allow no light to pass through them. Directional 45/0° reflectance geometry is the best method for opaque liquids since it is similar to how the human eye interprets color.

A vehicle’s interior has many colored components, including the center console, door trim, dashboard, steering wheel and seats. When these components are matching or coordinating colors, it makes the car’s interior look sleek and aesthetically appealing to the driver and passengers.

Different suppliers manufacture the different components of the car, and their unique molding processes, materials and colorants can influence the result. Industry standards for cars are important to follow to ensure color harmony across components and manufacturers since customers will notice subtle color differences.

How to Create an Industry Standard Inside Your Car

Color and gloss measurements should be harmonious in different lighting conditions — for instance, the interior colors should look the same in sunlight and fluorescent light. Car interiors can be altered or modified to reach industry standards in various ways.

Color

Each make and model of a car has interior components that must be a specific color. These colors must also match across lots. For example, two 2021 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles with the jet black interior option must be identical to each other in color. Following the automotive industry standards for color application techniques will achieve the optimal color match.

A spectrophotometer is used to measure color for car components. This instrument uses the color space L*a*b to give color measurement data, so you can verify that the component is the color you desire. The spectral sensor of the spectrophotometer can calculate and output data for various lighting conditions.

When analyzing a surface, keep in mind that texture influences how color is perceived. High gloss surfaces obscure color, and changing this texture to something more matte can change how the color looks. Since color measurement with a spectrophotometer involves shining light onto the surface and measuring reflectance, special considerations must be made about evaluating color and appearance (SPEX) or color alone (SPIN) with gloss.

Understanding Gloss Measurements

Gloss is a surface attribute that creates a shiny, metallic appearance. This visual perception appears when the surface is elevated and exposed to direct light. Gloss measurements are taken with a glossmeter that determines specular reflection (gloss) by measuring the amount of reflected light at an equal and opposite angle.
Knowing how to measure the color of a gloss depends on the surface type. For coatings, plastics and other nonmetal surfaces, some of the light is absorbed into the material. Metal surfaces are more reflective, so the angle doesn’t need to be so specific.

The settings to use when measuring the color of a gloss depend on the surface type. The standard measuring angles are:

• High gloss surfaces: 20°
• Mid gloss surfaces: 60°
• Low gloss surfaces: 85°
• International standard: 60°

It is important to know gloss measurements because gloss psychologically influences customers, so this aspect needs to be consistent across products and batches.

When analyzing a surface, keep in mind that texture influences how color is perceived. High gloss surfaces obscure color, and changing this texture to something more matte can change how the color looks. Since color measurement with a spectrophotometer involves shining light onto the surface and measuring reflectance, special considerations must be made about evaluating color and appearance (SPEX) or color alone (SPIN) with gloss.

Understanding Gloss Measurements

Gloss is a surface attribute that creates a shiny, metallic appearance. This visual perception appears when the surface is elevated and exposed to direct light. Gloss measurements are taken with a glossmeter that determines specular reflection (gloss) by measuring the amount of reflected light at an equal and opposite angle.
Knowing how to measure the color of a gloss depends on the surface type. For coatings, plastics and other nonmetal surfaces, some of the light is absorbed into the material. Metal surfaces are more reflective, so the angle doesn’t need to be so specific.

The settings to use when measuring the color of a gloss depend on the surface type. The standard measuring angles are:

• High gloss surfaces: 20°
• Mid gloss surfaces: 60°
• Low gloss surfaces: 85°
• International standard: 60°

It is important to know gloss measurements because gloss psychologically influences customers, so this aspect needs to be consistent across products and batches.

Color spaces are ways to organize colors into specific categories. A color space can be arbitrary, where colors recognizable in the physical world are assigned swatches and names, or have a mathematical organization plan. Color spaces are conceptual, and they help you understand the types of colors a device can produce.

What Are the Types of Color Spaces?

Think of a color space as encompassing any shade you can imagine based on the three primary colors — red, blue and green. Every color arising from any combination of these three falls within the color space. Typically, color spaces are developed on a diagram, which can be RGB or CMYK. How do you choose a color space? Dive into the definitions below to learn the basics.

Lab Color Space

One of the choices for measuring color is using lab color space. This space has the same components as others, though it is divided into lightness (L*) and two color components (a* stands for red and green value and b* stands for blue and yellow). The “lightness” is kept separate from the other parts because when you adjust it, the change more closely resembles human vision. In other words, if you use a lab color space and adjust the lightness, the outcome will look more “correct” to the human eye.

RGB Color Space

Red, blue and green are the primary colors, each of which is visible to the human eye. Visible colors are considered to be combinations of these three. To measure the possibilities of every color you can mix with red, blue and green, you can model an RGB color space, which is a three-dimensional plane in the shape of a cube with each color on an axis — a point’s position within the cube indicates its color makeup and saturation. The majority of digital images use an RGB color space.

There is some debate over RGB versus Lab color for reproducing images. In many cases, sticking with RGB will suffice, though projects requiring careful color correction and toning can benefit from the adjustment capabilities of Lab.

CMYK Color Space

The cyan, magenta, yellow and key (black) color space is another option, which is typically used in printed materials. When working with CMYK, you start with a white base and add the ink. The ink absorbs and reflects different light levels, giving you the desired colors.

Consumers are demanding more natural, healthier food virtually across the board and the condiment industry is no exception. The ketchup segment of that accounts for more than $8 billion annually, with the vast majority of ketchup consumption happening in North America.1  Despite this high figure, the market is declining due in part to increased awareness of the risks of preservatives and high sugar typically present in the popular condiment. As manufacturers seek out ways to increase the appeal of ketchup by eliminating these additives, they may need to adjust their formulas to account for color.

Ketchup, however, can be a surprisingly finicky condiment when it comes to color integrity. Everything from the shade of the tomato to cooking duration and temperature could result in an undesirable color, which is either too dark or too pale. As manufacturers adjust their ingredients, the need to find ways to ensure ketchup color is still visually appealing to consumers remains. Using spectrophotometers in the process of creating ketchup is an ideal solution.

Click here for the best spectrophotometer to measure ketchup color

A product’s appearance has a significant impact on consumer purchasing behavior. When encountering a product, consumers quickly make decisions about that product’s utility, value and intended use, so brands across industries need to make a positive first impression. Color is one effective way companies communicate information through product appearance.

Consumer Color Perception

The human eye can recognize up to 10 million different colors within the visible light spectrum. Over time, many shades have gained associations with certain objects and ideas.

On a practical level, color communicates important information about surroundings. Depending on the context, a color can efficiently deliver information and encourage observers to modify their behavior. Consider the bright safety colors used around potentially hazardous environments such as construction sites. The bright orange safety cones, road signs and worker apparel stand out and warn people to proceed with caution.

Color can also evoke an emotional response. Although the perception of a color’s meaning may vary between cultures, color psychology suggests that manipulation of color can influence consumer behavior, making color an important tool across industries.