Welcome back everyone to our fabric development series! Today we are going to continue to address the issue of color in regards to Spoonflower uploads. I’ve been hesitant to order more fabric because I want to be at least semi-confident that what I’m receiving is pretty close to what I am designing color-wise in my head. Just to recap quickly-- here is my initial upload and first fabric printing attempt:
Color is extremely important to me. I designed this fabric to be used in my upcoming Fall 08 Mamma Made collection. As you can see, the result is still cute, but the colors exude Spring/Summer and I simply can’t use it. How can I be more confident in my design uploads in regards to the final product? I decided to order a swatch of colors and then calibrate my monitor according to the results. Here is the swatch I uploaded:
Here is the swatch I received:
Now take into account that this is a photo so the colors are not accurately portrayed. The colors on the fabric are a bit brighter than shown in the picture, but besides that pretty accurate. Just comparing the top line between the two images show that solid red really is printed as orange and real blue becomes a purple. After seeing the huge difference between the two, I changed my mind as to how I want to continue. Originally I wanted to calibrate my monitor to the colors on the fabric. Now I’m not so sure that this is the best idea.
Most graphic artists use some sort of color calibration book as they are designing. This gives them a standard from which to work from and they don’t need to rely on their monitor. The color is right in front of them and they can just punch the numbers in and know what they are going to get. I decided that this process might be the best for me as well. The swatch I have really doesn’t cover many colors at all, but I’m going to use it as a starting point to get a feel for where I need to go. While I’m working with what I have, I’m also going to order a more in-depth color swatch. All of these colors have the corresponding color numbers.
Using my printed fabric like my “swatch book” I changed the color scheme on my birds. They won’t be exactly like my initial vision because like I said I have a limited amount of colors to go by. Here are the three colors that I chose to change my birds into:
The birds on the left are my original design and vision. The birds on the right are what I needed to change them into to have them print out the way I want. Does this make sense?
- I looked at the printed fabric swatch to choose the color I wanted.
- I then went back to the original swatch image and found the RGB numbers that corresponded with the colors I chose. I wrote them on the fabric swatch.
- I went to my artwork (in Inkscape) and changed the RGB numbers accordingly.
So now I need to go ahead and change my entire block of artwork to this new color scheme. I will then upload it to Spoonflower and order a swatch.
Let’s see how this turns out! I have very high hopes! To be continued…..!!!!
Love, Rachel