How to Choose Exterior Paint Colors from a Personal Photo
Sometimes people see a color so beautiful that they want to bring it home with them. A handy camera or a cell phone that takes photos makes obtaining a record of the color an easy process, but then you must figure out a way to match the colors in the photo with available paint in order to recreate the perfect color scheme on the exterior of your home. Matching exterior paint to a photo requires a bit of time and patience, but the pay-off is worth it. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Use a photo of a home with the color scheme you want to duplicate. Visit a home improvement or paint store that offers computerized paint matching and show them the color(s) to match. Gather paint swatches based on the color match. If no computer matching is available, choose colors that most closely resemble the ones in your photo.
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Collect additional swatches of colors that are close to the originally selected colors, both darker and lighter.
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Place the paint swatches next to each other to ensure the colors will blend together well once painted onto the exterior of the home. Use the additional paint swatches to replace the original choice if a color needs slight adjustment for a better effect.
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Tape the paint swatches or paint a small section of the home's exterior to see how colors look in sunlight. Natural lighting always produces a different effect than the artificial light of the store. Some paint manufacturers sell small sample-sized containers of paint, making it easier and less expensive to test the color on your home.
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Make your final purchase of paint with confidence in your color scheme from the paint samples you selected.
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Tips & Warnings
New technology is making it possible to use your computer or phone to achieve a color match from a digital photo. Upload a photo of your home to a website that offers a paint imaging software program and preview colors from your computer.
