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I need to make a restaurant menu design that matches restaurant wallpapers. For some reason my client cannot get color codes used in wallpaper, but he provided me with a sample. (see below)

enter image description here

How can I get the correct color codes from the wallpaper? (someone mentioned that there are scanners for this purpose, but I could not find any information regarding that)

Let me know if this question should be in another site.

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    If it's for print the industry standard is a Pantone reference. Although you could get a spectrometer to give you a accurate LAB reading, most printers will still just ask for a Pantone.
    – Dre
    Dec 18, 2014 at 17:04
  • You can always take it to a local print shop and they can obtain the color for you.
    – user9447
    Dec 18, 2014 at 17:05

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Get your (or borrow a) Pantone swatch book and hold it up next to the wallpaper until you find a close match.

enter image description here

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  • Would there be a specific swatch collection I should be looking at?
    – skmasq
    Dec 18, 2014 at 17:23
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    @skmasq only if you know how you're going to be printing the menu already. For example, if you know you will be using uncoated stock, then you'd specifically want the Uncoated Pantone swatch book. Keep in mind, however, that you likely won't find an exact match (unless the wallpaper happens to be using Pantone ink as well). And that shouldn't matter. No one is going to hold up a menu to the wall and notice a brown a shade or two off in a dim restaurant.
    – DA01
    Dec 18, 2014 at 17:25
  • I completely agree. Thank you, additionally I look into spectrometers too.
    – skmasq
    Dec 18, 2014 at 17:27
  • I wan't suggesting you actually look into spectrometers; they can cost a fortune. I was merely pointing out that while you could do that in theory, it will all still boil down to a Pantone reference.
    – Dre
    Dec 18, 2014 at 18:06
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    If consistency matters that much to your client, it would be best to compare the Pantone swatches on-site, too. The lighting in the restaurant will absolutely have an affect on color appearance.
    – digijim
    Dec 18, 2014 at 20:09
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There's also a number of apps available. I've never tried any to know how well or not they work.

Swatchmate Cube was funded from Kickstarter in 2013.

I've seen one that's a very high end looking sphere but can't relocate it right now.

Pantone puts out their own color capture as well, it's quite pricey though. Pantone CAPSURE.

Adobe came out with an app as well that ties into Adobe Creative Cloud called Adobe Color CC. Unfortunately they don't yet have it available for Android devices, but looking it up in Playstore to double check found Color Grab by Loomatix as another possibility. App was last updated July 2014 but their website appears to be offline so not sure it's status.

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  • I have something similar to the CAPSURE (Color Cue 2) and I'm not all that impressed with the results it gives. It can point me in the right direction, but I usually find a better match using a swatch book. Perhaps the tech has improved since 2007, but it was a waste of money in my experience
    – JohnB
    Dec 18, 2014 at 18:16

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