Patent ID: 8743137

Claim:
A method to define automatically, in a pre-selected color space, at least one user-provided sample color, the method comprising: (a) defining mathematically within a programmable computer each of a plurality of target colors with coordinates within the color space to yield a standard color data set; (b) providing a multi-chromatic physical color swatch comprising a plurality of swatch colors spanning at least a portion of the color space, wherein each of the plurality of swatch colors corresponds to one of the plurality of target colors defined in step (a) by being defined within the color space with the coordinates defining the one of the plurality of target colors; (c) digitally imaging a plurality of user-provided sample colors juxtaposed with the multi-chromatic physical color swatch to provide a plurality of digitally imaged user-provided sample colors juxtaposed to a digitally imaged plurality of swatch colors, thereby yielding a sample color data set comprising coordinates within the color space defining the digitally imaged user-provided sample colors and each of the digitally imaged plurality of swatch colors; and then (d) comparing the coordinates in the sample color data set of step (c) with the coordinates in the standard color data set of step (a) by means of a program comprising a clustering algorithm stored on the programmable computer to thereby determine coordinates within the color space that defines at least one of the user-provided sample colors, wherein the clustering algorithm clusters the plurality of digitally imaged user-provided sample colors into a predefined number of representative colors, and wherein the comparing comprises comparing coordinates defining each of the representative colors against the coordinates defining each of the target colors in the standard color data set.