Color Analysis of Batik Fabric by Facile Smartphone Colorimetry

Abstract

The color of a textile material is the first attribute and key component considered by consumers while purchasing cloth. However, measurement of fabric color is a very challenging task in the textile fabrication process. Colorimeters aids this measurement by adding objective assessments to a generally subjective process. The colorimeter application in Android smartphones provides a simple alternative to dedicated colorimetric devices. The purpose of this study was to determine the suitability of the smartphone colorimetry application for a Batik fabric color measurement. The colors of various Batik fabric images in the International Commission on Illumination L*a*b* color space, which includes all the colors that are visible by the human eye, obtained by a spectrophotometer and the colorimeter application were compared. Data of Batik fabric images acquired at three different distances of 10, 20, and 30 cm were analyzed. The color differences between the colorimeter and spectrophotometer results are various depending on the distance from the target. The ΔE*ab and ΔE*ch metrics were used to evaluate the color differences between the reference and sample fabric colors. The lowest mean of ΔE*ab values was 12.11 ± 5.29 measured 20 cm away from each fabric. The mean values of ΔE*ab between pairs of color symbols from the Colorimeter application were comparable to those obtained by the spectrophotometer. The ΔE*ab values were more suitable for fabric color measurement than ΔE*ch. The results indicate that smartphone colorimetry provides reasonable accuracy, is simple to use for amateurs, suitable for fabric color matching, and can satisfy fabric market requirements.