Meeting customers’ color demands has evolved from simply providing colors tinted in the factory, to providing any desired color tinted on demand at the point of sale (POS). This is accomplished with the use of a universal tinting system and color formulae taken either from preset formulae or a formula generated from an in-store computer color match. Commonly POS tinting systems use a limited number of tinting pastes, generally from 10–16, but most often 12. This limitation places increasing importance on pigment selection in formulating colorants used at the tinting stations. It is crucial that the optimal combination of pigments are selected to provide not only the largest color gamut possible, but also to provide the technical characteristics required to meet a variety of performance requirements.
One important characteristic of paint is its resistance to loss of color — “fading.” Any loss of color in paint is also perceived as a loss of performance of the paint film. As paint performance warranties are extended for longer periods, it becomes more important to select the most durable pigment for POS systems colorants.