Paint

[Pat_HD_ATL]

Selecting colors has never been so easy!

Now Behr has teamed with the Apple iTunes Store to provide ColorSmart by Behr, the mobile app.

Like the ColorSmart kiosk in the Paint Department and the online version available under the Find Your Color tab at Behr.com, the mobile app offers the ability to shop colors, coordinate palettes, and test the colors on sample rooms.

But the app also allows you to take a photo then tap on the image to find a matching Behr color.

Like I said, selecting colors has never been so easy!

Click here to read reviews and download the app.

[JaxWeather]

Any word on an Android App for matching Paint to Behr colors?  I only use Behr paint and would love a way to be able to see a color and get the closest behr match color...

Thanks,

Bob

[Pat_HD_ATL]

Hey JaxWeather,

I apologize, but I don't have an immediate answer to your question about an Android app for the Behr ColorSmart color identifier.

However, I have started a review to get you a fact-based answer.

Just as soon as I have accurate details I will follow-up here.

In the interim, please be certain to use ColorSmart online.

[Pat_HD_ATL]

Hello Again JaxWeather!

It took a few days to track down reliable information, but your wish is being fulfilled ... the Android app (similar to the iPhone app) is under development.

I confirmed this with the Technology Team at Behr. I consistently find the Behr Team uniformly helpful and knowledgeable ... not to mention consistently producing the highest rated paint in the industry for the last seven years.

They do not have a firm timeline, but I do have confirmation that it is a priority project under development.

When released, you will read about it here!

[einarsen]

I want to use the app to save photos to my Behr web account, I think I'm supposed to be able to do this, but it's not working for me.

Navigation: App Home Screen > More ... > Share/Save 

All of the options say "Logged Out" but tapping on them does not allow me to enter a username / password.

Any ideas?

[Pat_HD_ATL]

Hey Einarsen!

The utility of Behr's new app doesn't appear to extend quite as far as you had hoped ... just yet.

On my iPhone the app works great!

I have used the Photo Match function to take a picture of my office mate (as well as buildings, plants, etc). When I touched his face on my screen, I discovered that Ernie is predominantly Atomic Tangerine (S-G-320), which is both named and displayed on the next screen.

When I touch the color name, the screen skips forward again to a "view" where I am offered the opportunity to either "Coordinate" the color or "Preview" the color in a list of available room photos.

I believe this is where one of your main concerns occurs ... attempting to download your images for use in the app. At present, I have only found a way to use the room photos available in the app. The online function in Behr's ColorSmart system (seen below) allows you to download your own photo, but I haven't yet found this function in the Mobile version.

 

In the "Preview" screen on your iPhone, there is a link icon in the top right corner of the screen that allows you four options: Save To Favorites, Post to Facebook, Twitter, and Save to Behr Workbook.

The Key: Each requires that you "create a log in" for that function before the app will recognize the link. Once linked, the app will allow you to save a library of "Favorite" colors that you can assign to either Interior or Exterior projects ... and you can name the projects so you can go back to them later. You will want to spend a little time exploring these menus.

The Facebook and Twitter functions allow you to share your project ideas with your Community.

In addition, the app helps you locate the nearest Home Depot by combining your GPS function into the Store Locator. When you touch the "pin" that identifies the nearest store, the store phone number pops up and you simply touch the number and your phone will call that store.

You can also browse every color Behr offers and create color palettes that coordinate the colors you choose.

The "Mobile" version of the app emulates the online ColorSmart system fairly well, with these great new functions.

The utility I gain with my iPhone is beyond belief. Just like you, the more I use it, the more I imagine functions that I would like to have.

For now, our friends at Behr have given us an outstanding new app with broader function that previously available in the online version. I know they work constantly to improve their products, because their paints continue to rank at the top of the industry year after year.

Based upon their track record of quality improvements, I have to expect upcoming versions of their Mobile app will offer even greater utility.

If you have found utilities within the app that you like, please take time to share the pathway with the Community.

By the way, I have quite a few laughs while working with Ernie in my home office.

[csawatzki]

I just tried to use this app. Took a picture of my wall, it gave me a color, and that color was way off. Not sure how you expect to get close to colors without taking into account lighting conditions.

[Pat_HD_ATL]

You Are Soo Right Csawatzki!

The "Lighting Conditions" impact photography as well as the way color appears in your home.

Photographers use colored lens filters to add or remove colors from the light spectrum which creates color variations in their work.

In their homes, many people use "Soft White" light bulbs which cast a yellow-red color onto everything in the room. I frequently have customers at The Paint Pit who come back and complain that the color they selected is not what it looks like on their walls. When we discuss lighting, they most often discover that their light bulbs are the culprit.

Full-Spectrum light is designed to produce light very similar to daylight. Under these bulbs, your colors will reproduce most accurately.

If you are working under fluorescent bulbs, the label should say 6500 degrees kelvin if you want to produce light that is closest to daylight.

So, go back and have a look at the lighting in your room ... you're likely to find that the bulbs are producing colors that are changing the way your colors appear.

NOTE: The Color Smart photo tool is not intended as a substitute for color matching. It is only intended to give you a starting point on the X and Y axis of the color sample display. Refining your selection requires that you move lighter or darker along the X and Y axis. Bring a sample from your wall to The Paint Pit and your Paint Associate will color match to give you the most accurate reproduction of your color.

JUST A SUGGESTION: Many of my customers spend countless hours selecting exactly the right paint colors for their decor. When the opportunity presents itself, I use the light bulb displays to demonstrate the different colors of light and encourage them to change to "Daylight" bulbs. They are usually much more satisfied that their color selections are reproducing accurately under this light.

[ordjen]

Daylight bulbs do have truer color portrayal, but true color is not the sum total of a pleasing atmosphere. Warm or super warm white bulbs give your skin tones a much more pleasant look. Wooden kitchen cabinetts will look much richer under warm light. Warm colors become warmer.

 Fluorescent fixtures generally come with daylight bulbs because they are less expensive and give more lumens per watt. Many times over the years, I have counselled customers to get rid of those daylight bulbs in their kitchens and see how much better they and their cabinetts would look. I remember one long time customer who had a built in fluorescent box in the ceiling. While she was gone, I took the initiative to change over the tubes from daylight white to warm white. I also changed her fixtures from 2 tubes to 4 tubes. I awaited her return to see her reactions. It was like one of those "reveals" on the homeowners programs on HGTV. She came in and was instantly amazed at how different, how bright and cheery the ktichen looked. It was such reactions and appreciations which made my job enjoyable.

My best advice to customers auditioning colors is to buy the testers and live with the sample on the wall for at least 24 hours  through a full variety of light. Also, if the walls are anything but white, it is often risky judging by the sample on the wall. Your eye mixes color just like your TV tube creates it. If it sees colors next to one another, it will tend to blend them. It can also accentuate colors, i.e. a red will look more vivid if placed next to a strong green.   If true color perception were vital, I would put a sample on computer white paper and place it on the floor on top of the white drop cloth. Here, the eye could not be influenced by the wall color, other than some reflected light from walls in the room.

Last, normal TV and computer monitors monitors do not give true color representation. There are such reliable devices in use by commercial artists, but they are expensive pieces of hardware accompanied by expensive software. This is why the Behr color matching computer by the color chip display does not give a true representation and why it always referrs the customer to the appropriate color chip where the actual color may be viewed.

A similar problem exists by printed color brochures. It is highly unreliable. Here again, Behr referrs the customer to the appropriate chip for the actual color. I never accept an order from printed material without showing the customer the actual color chip. they often have second thought!

[Pat_HD_ATL]

Hey Ordjen!

I was reading your post and noted you said, "Fluorescent fixtures generally come with daylight bulbs because they are less expensive."

Just to prevent confusion on this thread, I checked with The Store and most of our fluorescent fixtures are sold without bulbs.

Bob, our electrical guru, confirmed, "Daylight bulbs produce full spectrum light, most similar to natural daylight." He added that these bulbs also produce more volume of light per energy used (lumens).

In his question, Csawatzki was using Behr's ColorSmart app and his iPhone camera to take pictures of his wall colors. He was concerned about how to, "get close to colors without taking into account lighting conditions."

My reply was addressing his photography question and how the color temperature of light changes colors of items on which the light casts ... soft white bulbs make colors appear more yellow-red, daylight bulbs reproduce colors most accurately because they produce full-spectrum light most similar to natural daylight.

We discussed that he could use lens filters to eliminate the yellow-red color or he could change his light bulbs to daylight to get the closest reproduction of the colors. But either way, the iPhone app was designed to be a starting point for color selection. I added the comment that if he wants to recreate an existing paint color his best bet would be color matching ... not the iPhone app.

I love Behr's ColorSmart app on my iPhone. Their online version also allows you to upload photos of your room and then apply test colors to the walls before you leave your home. But just like my answer about Csawatzki's photos, the online system is designed to be a starting point on the X and Y axis of the color display as The Store.

The way you see colors in your home depends upon whether you use yellow-red casting Soft White bulbs, full spectrum bulbs that are more like daylight and reproduce colors like you would see them in daylight, or a bulb which casts a color somewhere between the two.

Here is a simple chart that shows how different color casting light bulbs change the way your see your colors.

Color Temperature*	Source	Casts	Changes Color Perception
1850	Sunrise or Sunset	red to violet	most
3000	Cool or Soft White bulb	yellow-red	more
4100	Moonlight	yellow	somewhat
5000	Horizon Daylight	white-yellow	less
6500	Diffused Daylight	pure daylight	least

*Color Temperature is measured in degrees Kelvin.

Most bulbs display color temperature on the package or use terms like "Cool White" or "Daylight" stamped on the bulb.

In Function: Photographers, Retailers, Architects, and Designers have long used the color temperature of light to bring out the preferred color in their products.

The easiest example occurs in your local meat market where fresh cuts are displayed under approximately 2000 degree Kelvin bulbs that cast a red color on the meat ... making it appear fresh.

If you look at the lights over the table at your favorite restaurant, you'll notice they cast colors that make your food more visually appealing ... commonly soft-white light.

These practices are broadly used in business and industry and can just as easily be used in your home or office to ensure the colors you choose create the impact you intended!

ColorSmart is an excellent tool to get you started in the right direction!