Pigment identification of complex coating mixtures with sparkle color

1. A computer system having a database, and a processor programmed for communication with the database, the processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored on the computer system corresponding to a method comprising:

obtaining, using an image capturing device, multiple images each obtained at a different angle with respect to a surface of a target coating;

performing, using an electronic computer processor in operative association with at least one filtering technique, an image analysis on the obtained images, wherein: (i) the image analysis identifies a matrix of pixels, and (ii) each pixel of the matrix for each of the multiple images corresponds to an area on the target coating;

determining, using the processor, a color attribute for each pixel in each matrix, wherein one or more of the determined pixels are determined to have a sparkle color;

labeling each pixel of each matrix that corresponds to a sparkle color, and labeling each pixel that matches a proximity threshold to one or more of the labeled sparkle color pixels that corresponds to the determined color attribute for each pixel;

calculating, using the processor, a sparkle color distribution in response to the color attribute determination; and

generating, using the processor and in association with the calculated sparkle color distribution, a coating formulation that is the same or substantially similar in appearance to the target coating.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one color attribute comprises an intensity of a color.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one color attribute comprises at least one of color value, hue, chroma, lightness, brightness, texture, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising mapping at least one difference between multiple selected images at different angles in response to a change in at least one color attribute associated with at least one sparkle point.

5. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising deriving a correlation for at least one toner wherein the correlation indicates a contribution of the toner to the sparkle color distribution.

6. The method of claim 5 , the method further comprising using the derived correlation at multiple angles to match at least one toner to the sparkle color distribution.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the coating formulation comprises generating a list of toners.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the coating formulation comprises comparing at least one aspect of the sparkle color distribution to a plurality of known coating formulations.

9. A computer system having a database, and a processor programmed for communication with the database, the processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored on the computer system corresponding to a method comprising:

obtaining, using an image capturing device, multiple images each obtained at a different angle with respect to a surface of a target coating;

performing, using an electronic computer processor in operative association with at least one filtering technique, an image analysis on the obtained images, wherein: (i) the image analysis identifies a matrix of pixels, (ii) each pixel of the matrix for each of the multiple images corresponds to a measured area on the target coating; and

for each of the obtained multiple images:

determining, using the processor, whether each pixel comprises a color attribute corresponding to a sparkle color, wherein one or more pixels are determined to have a sparkle color, and one or more of the pixels is undetermined with respect to sparkle color;

determining one or more sparkle points corresponding to one or more pixels determined to have a sparkle color in each matrix;

averaging similar sparkle points into a single color point;

calculating a distribution of sparkle colors for the measured area of the target coating; and

generating, using the processor and in association with the calculated sparkle color distribution, a coating formulation that is the same or substantially similar in appearance to the target coating.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein at least one color attribute comprises an intensity of a color.

11. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein at least one color attribute comprises at least one of color value, hue, chroma, lightness, brightness, texture, or a combination thereof.

12. The computer system of claim 9 , the method further comprising mapping at least one difference between multiple selected images at different angles in response to a change in at least one color attribute.

13. The computer system of claim 9 , the method further comprising deriving a correlation for at least one toner wherein the correlation indicates a contribution of the toner to the sparkle color distribution.

14. The computer system of claim 13 , the method further comprising using the derived correlation at multiple angles to match at least one toner to at least a portion of the sparkle color distribution.

15. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein generating the coating formulation comprises generating a list of toners.

16. The computer system of claim 9 , wherein generating the coating formulation comprises comparing at least a portion of the sparkle color distribution to a plurality of known coating formulations.

17. A computer system having a database, and a processor programmed for communication with the database, the processor configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored on the computer system corresponding to a method comprising:

obtaining, using an image capturing device, multiple images each obtained at a different angle with respect to a surface of a target coating;

performing, using an electronic computer processor in operative association with at least one filtering technique, an image analysis on the obtained images, wherein: (i) the image analysis identifies a matrix of pixels, (ii) each pixel of the matrix for each of the multiple images corresponds to a measured area on the target coating; and

for each of the obtained multiple images:

determining, using the processor, whether each pixel comprises a color attribute corresponding to a sparkle color, wherein: (i) each pixel comprises an RGB value based on a two-dimensional x and y value within the matrix, (ii) one or more pixels are determined to have a sparkle color, and (iii) one or more of the pixels is undetermined with respect to sparkle color;

determining one or more sparkle points corresponding to one or more pixels determined to have a sparkle color in each matrix;

identifying a third-dimensional value corresponding to at least one of intensity or hue for each pixel across multiple images, wherein the third-dimensional value is identified for each pixel across multiple angles;

comparing multiple RGB values and third-dimensional values for a pixel to identify a special effect in the target coating; and

generating, using the processor and in association with the calculated sparkle color distribution, a coating formulation that is the same or substantially similar in appearance to the target coating, and that employs the identified special effect.

18. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein identifying a third-dimensional value further comprises:

matching a first sparkle point with a first color value at a first angle in a target coating with a sparkle point with the first color value at the first angle taken from a known coating formulation;

matching a second sparkle point with a second color value at a second angle in the target coating with a sparkle point with the second color value at the second angle taken from the known coating formulation; and

wherein the first color value is different from the second color value.

19. The computer system of claim 17 , further comprising:

averaging multiple sparkle point color values taken at each of the first and second angles to create an averaged sparkle color value at the first and second angles; and

comparing the averaged sparkle point color values with color values of the first and second angles in the known coating formulation.

20. The computer system of claim 17 , further comprising deriving a correlation for at least one toner wherein the correlation indicates a contribution of the toner to the sparkle color distribution.

21. The computer system of claim 20 , further comprising using the derived correlation at multiple angles to match at least one toner to the sparkle color distribution.

22. The computer system of claim 20 , further comprising:

using the derived correlation at multiple angles to determine a ratio of individual toners in the target coating;

wherein each toner ratio is directly attributable to sparkle color distribution in the target coating.

23. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the at least one filtering technique further comprises:

identifying an individual hue region in the target coating using one of a band pass filter, a band stop filter, or a high pass filter;

wherein the individual hue region is independent of a lightness or a brightness value.