colour-match
node express sqlite vite
A tool for colour matching and corrections on the shop's Roland VersaCAMM and CGS Flexpack printers, built to speed up matching and take human error out of the process. It generates a calibration chart to scan with a spectrodensitometer — the same handheld device used for ink density readings — then cross references the LAB values that come back against CMYKOG ink recipes (the usual four channels, plus orange and green, which is what those printers actually mix with) to tell you exactly how to adjust a mix. It measures the gap with ΔE2000, the industry-standard formula for how different two colours actually look to a human eye, not just how far apart their numbers are.
how it works
Every printer and substrate combination drifts a little from the "textbook" LAB→CMYK conversion — the same formula can come out a shade warmer or cooler depending on the press, the stock, even the day. The calibration chart exists to measure that drift directly, rather than guessing at it: you print and scan the chart once, and the tool compares the LAB reading of your target colour against the LAB reading of what actually came off press. That difference becomes a correction factor, which gets applied to the standard conversion so the CMYK formula it hands back already accounts for how your setup actually behaves — instead of a proofer eyeballing another correction pass by hand. Each printer supports three distinct print modes — surface, reverse, and white-base — since a colour that's printed normally, printed backwards behind clear film, or printed over a white backing all need their own calibration.
built with
A Node.js server backed by SQLite, so calibration history and jobs persist between sessions without needing separate database software. Scanning still goes through X-Rite's own DataCatcher software, the same way as xrite-export reads a strip of patches — the readings just get routed into this tool's comparison logic instead. Runs self-hosted on a home server.