Re: [css-color] vendor named color enhancement

I did a lot of research on color naming relatively recently. The very
real problem is that there are not nearly enough color names to cover
every possible value, even before alpha and color profile are factored
into the scope. That means, even with CSS colors, X11 colors, Crayola,
and the formerly expanded Pantone catalog, we're still well short.
Believe it or not, HEX actually is the most fitting and covers the
widest spectrum.
 
I've since approached the folks at schema.org to discuss what a
standardized color schema could look like.
 
https://github.com/schemaorg/schemaorg/issues/938
 
 
*KS*
 
 
----- Original message -----
From: "Amelia Bellamy-Royds" <amelia.bellamy.royds@gmail.com>
To: Alex Cohen <AlexCohen@xrite.com>
Cc: "www-style@w3.org" <www-style@w3.org>
Subject: Re: [css-color] vendor named color enhancement
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:30:17 -0600
 
Alex:
 
You'll want to look at the draft CSS Color Level 4 specification section
on defining colors relative to device-calibrated color profiles:
 
https://drafts.csswg.org/css-color/Overview.html#icc-colors
 
This syntax is designed to be extensible to any new color-definition
system against which printers and digital displays could be calibrated.
Although the pre-defined profiles currently in the spec use numeric
values, keyword values are also possible.
 
Given the wide use of Pantone colours in printing and industrial design,
I'm suspect CSS WG members would be open to integrating it in the spec
as a pre-defined color profile, if all IP issues could be resolved with
Pantone in a manner that met W3C's patent requirements.
 
Otherwise, the syntax is designed to allow authors & printers/display
manufacturers to specify custom color systems without them having to be
added to the spec.
 
All of this is still a separate issue from calibrating printers / and
digital displays against Pantone standards, so that they correctly
display the named color.  As others have mentioned, that's a tricky
question when dealing with web content.  However, the new syntax would
ensure that *if* the display or printer is calibrated, authors would
have a standard way of communicating the desired color.
 
(PS, I'm not a member of this working group, just someone who's been
following the discussion.  Chris Lilley & Tab Atkins, the editors of CSS
Color Level 4, would be your best contacts for deciding on next steps.)
 
~Amelia Bellamy-Royds
 
On 21 July 2016 at 14:16, Alex Cohen <AlexCohen@xrite.com> wrote:
> Hello,
>
>
>  My name is Alex Cohen and I work for X-Rite/PANTONE.
>
>
>  For a while now I’ve been contemplating the idea of extending css
>  named colors to include vendor specific colors that are used across
>  other industries such as print. Before going ahead and writing up a
>  full proposal, I want to get the opinion of the people on this list
>  to see if it is something you might be interested in.
>
>
>  The idea is pretty simple. As you probably already know, Pantone is
>  pretty well known across the printing industry for it’s color
>  standards. Designers can specify Pantone color in a simple and
>  efficient manner and rest assured that the final output product will
>  reflect what they imagined. We want to apply that same concept to
>  the web.
>
>
>  A good example I like to use is a can of Coke. Wherever you are,
>  anywhere you go, you will recognize the red they use, it’s their
>  “brand” color. It’s important that this color be reproduced correctly
>  across all their manufacturing plants so that you can compare two
>  cans printed in totally different locations and not see a difference
>  in color.
>
>
>  The same could be applied to the web through a new set of vendor
>  specific css color names.
>
>
>  We’ve done a couple of trials here at Pantone and have gotten some
>  exciting results. We have a patch submitted to WebKit which shows the
>  idea in a working state.
>
>
> https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=159963
>
>
>  A quick idea of how the vendor specific naming could work:
>
>  *   start with a vendor specific prefix.
>  *   continue with a color specific indicator.
>  *   finish with a book marker.
>
>
>  Example:
>
>  Actual PANTONE Color Name: PANTONE 101 C
>
>  Web PANTONE Color Name: p101c
>
>
>  Curious to know what you think.
>
>
>  regards,
>
>  Alex Cohen
>
>  X-Rite/PANTONE
>
> alexcohen@pantone.com
>