For artists interested in understanding the technical foundations of all
aspects of watercolor painting: papers, brushes, paints, color theory, painting
techniques, and more (Note: slow download).
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html
A site by a photographer, Norman Koren, for photographers who want to get the maximum from the medium and who are
eager
to learn. From film grain to inkjet inks, all aspects of traditional and digital
photography are discussed. See also the link in the
Technical sites section below for his great camera analysis program "Imatest".
http://www.normankoren.com
top
Most likely the first virtual color museum. An extraordinary multi-lingual site on the perception, description and
characterization of color. Contains a description of almost all color systems
known since Pythagoras.
http://www.colorsystem.com/index.htm
Another virtual color museum, this time from the
Society of Dyers and Colourists
(they also house a real brick and mortar museum at their headquarters in
Bradford, England). The
web exhibits cover a wide range of subjects related to color, with an emphasis on
textiles, the "raison d'ėtre" of the Society. This site is a nice way to learn
in a relaxed atmosphere. The interactive exhibits (Flash plug-in required) will
please kids of all ages, boys and girls.
http://www.colour-experience.org
top
Here are three forum sites dedicated to photography where
you will also find help on color related subjects and equipment. Beside
being free, you will find there many knowledgeable participants and
moderators.
Digital Outback Photo
http://www.outbackphoto.com/tforum/
Luminous Landscape Forums
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/
Open Photography Forums
http://www.openphotographyforums.com/index.php
top
For free technical advice on paint and coatings, including
environmental aspects, you can ask a question to
Ron Joseph,
the resident expert of the
Paint and Coatings
Resource Center (PCRC) and a well known consultant.
http://www.paintcenter.org/pexpert.cfm
top
Numerical data for all RGB spaces available in BabelColor is directly
available trough its "Data" menu (click
here for the list of RGB spaces). The
information includes the coordinates of the primaries and the
illuminant,
gamma, as well as the XYZ to RGB and RGB to XYZ
matrices. A short description of each space is also included in the help manual.
The following sites contain additional information on the six spaces that were
designed by individuals (as opposed to international committees):
BestRGB and DonRGB4, two spaces dedicated for film based
photography. Defined by Don Hutcheson. Look in the "Free" section of his site.
http://www.hutchcolor.com
Beta RGB, a space defined by Bruce Lindbloom to maximize the coverage of
the visible spectrum (L*a*b* gamut efficiency) and, unlike ProPhoto, maximize
the amount of RGB combinations corresponding to visible colors (Encoding
Efficiency).
http://www.brucelindbloom.com
Bruce RGB, created in Bruce Fraser in 1998, a compromise between
ColorMatch and Adobe (1998). Designed to maximize the gamut while providing good
edit precision in 8 bit per pixel images.
http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/6541.html
eciRGB, developed by the European Color Initiative, a group of experts
dedicated to advancing media-neutral color data-processing in digital publishing
systems. Dedicated for printing presses.
http://www.eci.org/eci/en/020_eci.php
Ekta Space PS5, a space designed by Joseph Holmes to match the gamut
of Ektachrome transparency film. Also works well with color negatives.
http://www.josephholmes.com
top
The Imatest Web site. A commercial site with extensive background
information on target testing. Imatest offers a suite of programs
to test the sharpness and image quality of lenses, and evaluate the color
rendering and image noise of cameras, using inexpensive, widely available targets. It consists
of three modules, including one dedicated to owners of the
ColorChecker target.
http://www.imatest.com
Bruce Lindbloom's Web site, a very complete
and accurate
site on the mathematics of colorimetry, with numerous interactive applets,
equations, tables, etc. Very professional.
http://www.brucelindbloom.com
The Munsell Color Science Laboratory, one of the world's premier
academic laboratories dedicated to the science of color. Its "Resources" section
offers a significant amount of information on color theory as well as files of
the Munsell "renotation" data.
http://www.cis.rit.edu/mcsl
Charles Poynton, a well known and often quoted color expert with its
famous color and gamma FAQs.
http://www.poynton.com
top
Ron Bigelow has a nice web site dedicated to photography. His articles
are easy to read and informative. In particular, you will find a well
illustrated presentation on the use of
white balance adjustments and many articles related to RAW files.
http://ronbigelow.com
An educational article on
white balance for microscopy applications, from Nikon, where we see
that the microscopic world can have the same problems as the macroscopic world
in terms of color accuracy.
http://www.microscopyu.com
top | 
