# How best to photoshop possible Awlgrip hull colors?



## Nitro (Feb 4, 2009)

I want to 'see' prospective hull colors on my custom boat before deciding which color to chose. The manufacturer of Awlgrip doesn't provide this service; I haven't found a painter yet who does either.

Any suggestions as to how to 'photoshop' a hull with the various close hues of 'blue'? These colors are barely distinguishable even on their website.


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## SailingWebGuy (May 5, 2010)

Can Awlgrip give you pantone #'s for their paints?

Do you want to see the different colors on an illustration of your boat or do you have an actual photo that you'd like to change the colors?


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## Patient (Jan 7, 2009)

Hmmm.

Well the colors on their website are HTML representations of the colors they offer.

If you are using Firefox you could use an addon such as color monster to get the RGB color codes then add those to a custom Swatch in photoshop. Again though, it would just be what their website has displayed as "Royal Blue", not an actual true color reading.

If you _really_ wanted to get an accurate representation, I would ask for them to send a color card set to you then scan it and match the color in photoshop that way. Or as SailingWebGuy mentioned perfectly, match those colors with a pantone card to get extremely accurate matches.

You would think they had something like this: BMW 2002 Colors


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

I think you need to find a boat painted in the color of your interest, the paint chop should be able to help with this. My experience with this is the first time I had a boat awlgripped...i wanted the boat to be fire engine red. I selected what looked "red" to me on the color chart for the painter, he said not to use that color, it would come out orange, to use a different, very dark red. I went with his experience and ended up with a lovely fire engine red boat.


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## Nitro (Feb 4, 2009)

SailingWebGuy said:


> Can Awlgrip give you pantone #'s for their paints?
> 
> Do you want to see the different colors on an illustration of your boat or do you have an actual photo that you'd like to change the colors?


Good question about the pantone #'s.

I have many pictures of the boat, including a digital sailplan that depicts the hull. I would like to see what various color and combination (cove and boot stripes) options look like. Given the expense of paint and the fact that it's a very personal decision, it would be nice to gwr=t it right the first time! Unfortunately, as a custom boat, I can't just walk the docks to find say, 10 J/120's line up. IMO, this is a service more paint shops should offer.

Here's a link: www.usa.414.blogspot.com. Hull is currently Claret Red, coach house, deck and toe rails are Whisper Gray, boot stripe is Mattahorn White, cove stripe and name are gold tape.

I'm leaning toward repainting the coach house and cockpit Mattahorn White (and possibly the toe rails) with a Whisper Gray non-skid on the coach top. Deck will remain Whisper Gray. But I'm looking for a hull color (likely in the dark blue range - Flag, Royal, Arristo, Navy) and boot stripe (perhaps with an accent of red) design that will really make the lines pop, minimize the early IOR freeboard and do the boat justice.

If anyone has suggestions or photo's of other boats, I'd love to hear.see them. Boat goes into the paint shop next week for 4-6 weeks.


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## Nitro (Feb 4, 2009)

BLOG ADDRESS CORRECTION: SITZMARK (USA414)


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## Sublime (Sep 11, 2010)

Looking at colors on the computer is not very accurate. Your monitor has different settings and will bring out some shades more than others. The best you can do is ball park. Find what you like, get it printed to look exactly as it looks on your monitor, then go see the paint guys, show them the picture and get their advice. 
Most people pick out brighter or darker colors than what they really want. It's the same for painting rooms. It looks really good on a color swatch or picture, but 200 sq ft or more of that color is overwhelming.


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## SailingWebGuy (May 5, 2010)

Graphics guys spend thousands on gear and software to get their monitors calibrated correctly. The best way to go about this is to get pantone #'s from awlgrip. Then get a pantone color book. You can find them online for about $70.00. Get an illustration made of the boat. From there you'll be able to plug the pantone colors into the illustration. However, the monitor you're viewing the illustration on may not accurately present the pantone color you choose. This is where the pantone book comes in. Compare the pantone # in the book to that on the computer. Adjust the color on the computer to "look" as close as possible to the actual pantone color in the book (and this would be the numbers given to you by awlgrip). You'll get more variations when you try to print the illustration out. 

Even then, colors will change depending on the type of lighting you view them in.

I owned a t-shirt printing business that catered mostly to high end clothing designers...all of which were very particular about color matching. The best of them gave me exact pantone #'s for the inks to be used AND understood that there would still be some slight variation.

Anyways, if you can get me some high res photos of the boat or an old illustration I can get you started. I'll give you an illustration that you can use to compare color combinations.

PM me if you're interested and I'll shoot you my email address.


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## Plumbean (Dec 17, 2009)

Your best bet will be to find a boat that has the paint your interested in already on it. Obviously not so easy.

FWIW, I just went through this on the deck and also went with a white/gray color scheme. Be aware that some of those grays will really look pretty dark once they are painted on there. I wanted something very light, and we ended up going with Oyster White for the coach roof, etc. and Chevy White for non-skid. Came out very nice.

You might research Awlcraft 2000 v Awlgrip. I went with Awlgrip but might have gone with the Awlcraft 2000 if I had it to do over again.

Good luck!


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## Nitro (Feb 4, 2009)

SailingWebGuy said:


> Graphics guys spend thousands on gear and software to get their monitors calibrated correctly. The best way to go about this is to get pantone #'s from awlgrip. Then get a pantone color book. You can find them online for about $70.00. Get an illustration made of the boat. From there you'll be able to plug the pantone colors into the illustration. However, the monitor you're viewing the illustration on may not accurately present the pantone color you choose. This is where the pantone book comes in. Compare the pantone # in the book to that on the computer. Adjust the color on the computer to "look" as close as possible to the actual pantone color in the book (and this would be the numbers given to you by awlgrip). You'll get more variations when you try to print the illustration out.
> 
> Even then, colors will change depending on the type of lighting you view them in.
> 
> ...


SWG - thanks for the insight and offer. Will do.

I've probably seen all these colors at one time on one boat or another. I search yachtworld, forums, etc. routinely for beautiful jobs and 'relative' comparisons. I can live with a certain amount of guestimation of the outcome. But one would think that someone would adopt a 'best practice' from the residential painting industry to offer color comparisons, even with the understandable risks, no? As an aside, it's just another example of where the marine trades are behind the times.


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## Nitro (Feb 4, 2009)

Patient said:


> Hmmm.
> 
> Well the colors on their website are HTML representations of the colors they offer.
> 
> ...


That's EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Then add an option to design a boot stripe and cove stripe from a menu of designs. How hard could this be?


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