Best Light Temperature for Accurate Color

[Old Guard Graphics]

We are setting up a new work area and need to replace the old overhead fluorescent lighting. Any thoughts on the best temperature LED for color proofing accuracy?

 

[Joe House]

The "standard" for print profiling and proofing is D50. But it would ultimately depend on where your work will be displayed. If most of your work will be displayed outside - car wraps, outdoor signage, etc. - then I woiuld go with D65 myself. If you really want accuracy in color matching, then getting a proofing booth would be worth the investment. It's not just the lights in the area, but also the surrounding environment will impact how you perceive color.
But is is good that you're thinking about this now. I've been in print shops that have 3 or 4 different colors of lamps in their fixtures, so color matching visually is a real crap shoot.

Good Luck

 

[OPENSignsInc.]

It really depends on where the product will end up if you're checking color w/o a spectrometer. But if its just to see imperfections, we run daylight (5200-5500K) T5 bulbs in our shop. It just to helps to see the smaller imperfections (as it is a brighter light than cool white). We'll probably change them out to LED eventually too, but we put them in 2-3 years ago and they're still going.

 

[The Big Squeegee]

We went cheap on LEDs. They tend spread the light unevenly. Okay for a break room or work area other than printing.
2 from OK

 

[GB2]

You need 5000 to 6500 but more importantly you need a Color Rendering Index (CRI) rating of 95 or more for accurate color.