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Spent $40 on a color matching tool and it was a total waste

I was working on a brand refresh for a local bakery and got stuck trying to match their signature pink frosting color from a photo. I saw an ad for a little physical color wheel tool that claimed to give you perfect hex codes from any object. It cost about $40 with shipping. I figured it would save me hours of fiddling in Photoshop. The thing showed up and it was just a cheap plastic disc with printed colors you hold up to your screen. It was impossible to get a good match, the colors on the tool looked nothing like my calibrated monitor. I ended up going back to my old method of using the eyedropper tool on a high res photo and then adjusting the sliders by hand for ten minutes. That got me the perfect match. The tool is now in a drawer. Has anyone found a physical color tool that actually works well for digital design, or should I just stick with software?

3 comments

3 Comments

matthewbarnes18d ago

Wait, you held it up to your screen? That's... not how that works at all.

danieljenkins18d ago

My cousin tried to scan a QR code off his TV last week. People just don't get how light works anymore.

keithpalmer2d ago

Did he try to screenshot it like @matthewbarnes said?