The new free colour HLC Colour Atlas XL with 13,283 colour swatches on 74 pages in DIN A4 oversize format uses the CIELAB colour model and the clear HLC representation system to describe colours digitally and device-independently. The colour atlas XL addresses professional users from design to production, including the suppliers involved. Due to its open digital Creative Commons concept, the colour atlas is particularly suitable for cross-sector colour communications with the highest quality requirements.
In comparison to the classic CIELAB HLC colour atlas, the gradation of the colour swatches was refined in the XL colour atlas. The colour tables show the gradation of a basic colour H (value range 0 … 360) according to brightness L (0 … 100) and chromaticity C (0 … 110 for printing colour spaces). The step size of the gradations is 10 units for the standard atlas and 5 units for the XL atlas. Further tables show the grey series (C = 0) and also the less saturated colours (C = 5). When selecting the gamut, we have decided to accept a maximum deviation of ΔE00 = 1 from the reference Lab value of any colour swatch. in the printed version the ideal lab values can be reproduced with an average ∆E00 of 0.5 for approx. 90% of all colour swatches in the HLC Atlas XL.
HLC Colour Atlas XL semimatt: Colour atlas with 13,283 colours produced on an EPSON SureColor P9000V Spectro proofing system and GMG Colorproof software on a certified semimatt proofing medium without optical brighteners. The production method ensures a very good match between the printed colour swatch and the ideal LAB reference and between different atlases/batches. Each colour atlas contains an individual quality protocol according to ISO 12647-7.

freeColour (freieFarbe) CIELAB HLC Colour Atlas XL:
The components in detail:

  • Atlas PDF: Its top layer corresponds to the gamutmap display and the printed version available as a ring binder, and the file contains further layers with the gamuts for sRGB, ISO Coated V2, Coated FOGRA39, PSO Coated V3 (FOGRA 51), and PSO Uncoated V3 (FOGRA52). These allow you to quickly check whether a colour can be exactly reproduced in an output process. The PDF contains Lab colour data, and you can print the atlas yourself (the accuracy depends on your system and colour settings).
  • PDF with sRGB and CMYK colour values for all colours and software applications of all kinds. With Ctrl+F you can quickly search for colour names.
  • ASE colour library that can be loaded into Adobe software as the “HLC Colour Atlas” colour library. Contains all atlas colours with their exact Lab colour values (only standard atlas version).
  • Measurement report of all colours (XLS). For each colour swatch, the Lab colour value and the target/actual deviation are specified in the ring binder version (see below). The spectral data of this measurement are also included.
  • Spectral data adapted to the exact HLC values for the determination of colour formulations for all colour tones of the printed atlas without deviation from the target (XLS, CXF, CGATS)

The ring binder versions produced in highly accurate proof printing can be ordered from proof GmbH, CCVision and grafipress. State-of-the-art inkjet technology reproduced all colours in the measured master copy with an accuracy of DeltaE00<1 (average DeltaE00=0.5) – a printing accuracy that was unthinkable just a few years ago.