Designed for color development and quality control specialists in the textile, automotive, paint, plastic, ink, paper, cosmetics and other industries, Datacolor Tools enables objective analysis, reporting, communication and visualization of accurate color results.
By setting pass/fail tolerances you can ensure consistent color quality and remove subjectivity in your color evaluation process.
Benefits of Datacolor Tools Software:
* Participating companies – Archroma and CSI. Reach out to your standard provider for more information.
Please note, new releases of the Datacolor software, in most cases will not support discontinued hardware instruments (check here to see the full list of discontinued products), even if you have the old legacy driver.
At the same time, if you are running an obsolete Datacolor Software version, and have purchased a newly released Datacolor hardware instrument, you will need to update your software to the compatible release in order to support your new instruments.
Please work with your account representative to upgrade your instrument or update your software to the latest supported versions.
Turning off Lite Mode in Tools 2.X
See attached screen shots.
Turn on Autoscale in Tools color Difference Plots
Go to the Tab ‘System’ then click on the first small icon (Plot Defaults). Then choose the ‘Color Difference’ tab. From there you can choose the scaling to a fixed amount or autoscale (Autoscale will adjust the graph to fit a batches on the graph)
Reconnect or reset instrument in DatacolorTools
If the calibrate button is not working it may be the instrument has lost connection. In Datacolor Tools go to the tab ‘instrument’ at the top. The click on the button ‘setup’(second from the left). There will be a drop down on this page. Click on it and select your instrument. If it says sim2000. That is incorrect. Select yours from the drop down and see if it connects.
Some specifier and user security settings can make button bars uneditable.
1) Using Windows Explorer locate the files: TOPBAR.CNF and BOTBAR.CNF
2) Right click on each. Select “properties” and ensure the “Read Only” attribute box is unchecked.
3) Verify that the current windows user has permission to read and edit files in the containing folder(s).
Restart Datacolor Tools / ColorTools
On the instrument menu, select Calibrate. Then, enter a number based on hours, in the box, Calibration Time Interval. The default is 8 hours. This is the recommended maximum setting.
Contrast Ratio is a mathematical measurement tool used to set a numerical value to a sample’s level of translucency up to the level of opacity. See attached for details.
You will click on the ’Search’ button on the ribbon bar in Tools. Then on the search page under ’sample type’ choose ’CSI Color Wall’. The option ’update CSI library’ button will be available. Click it and browse to the proper file on cd or elsewhere. The file name will have the extension .qtx_enc i.e. colorwall.qtx_enc . See file for details.
Tools has a search utility which can be used to help you identify measurements stored in its database which are colorimetrically close to a new color standard. You can set the parameters of this search. The Search option will return measurement names and their measurements so that you might then put them on the Tools desktop to further evaluate them against the new standard.
You must train the batches to a standard by marking them as ’Pass’, ’Fail’ or ’Exclude’. Then use the function ’A.I. Pass fail training’. Please see attached pdf for more detail.
Go to System Menu, select Plot Defaults and Type of plot and Click on Enable Print Names/Labels
Labels are not available for Trend and Histogram plots.
Select the Down Arrow key next to “STD:INST” or BAT:INST” button and select “Instrument Average”. Go to “Std” in Menu bar – File – Standard Defaults – From down arrow list for Instrument condition, select “Instrument Avg” and click OK. Follow the same procedure for Batch measurement default also, on the Bat menu bar.
Ensure product quality with Datacolor Tools
Quality control experts rely on Datacolor Tools software to analyze and visualize color quality to meet their customers’ highest expectations.
The ability to view colors on texture on a calibrated monitor enables a full digital workflow. The intuitive user interface is easy to learn and master, and you can customize the interface layout to suit your specific needs.
Don’t need all the bells and whistles? For users workflows that require faster data processing and speed, a lite mode is available.
Datacolor Tools integrates seamlessly with Datacolor Match Textile and Match Pigment formulation software to further improve productivity.
See how you can ensure higher quality products by using Datacolor Tools quality control software.
Webinar series
Learn the best ways to utilize various colorimetric graphs and display color on-screen to interpret numerical color differences.
“Thanks to Datacolor, we reach our goal of deciding during the process whether the batch is within specifications or has to be reworked. And we are being supported by real experts who analyze the challenges and offer outstanding solutions.”
Webinar Series
Discover all there is to know about Datacolor Tools in our webinar series.
Use the Tools Software today? Connect with us to maximize your color quality control capabilities.
Explore the latest articles, events, and news from Datacolor.
Get color right. Talk to a color expert today to find out how Tools enhances color quality.
