Colour Troubleshooting

Something looks the wrong colour. This section works from the symptom: the likely causes, a test for each that needs no special equipment, the cheapest fix, and when it is worth calling someone.

Room-specific and outfit-specific diagnoses have their own interactive tools in Interiors and Fashion, linked from the relevant problems.

20 topics · 88 evidence-labelled claims · 66 sources

Tools

Colour problem diagnostic

Paint and walls

Paint that looks wrong on the wall.

Why does my paint look different now it has dried?Usually because it has not finished drying, because one coat is not hiding what is underneath, or because patches of the wall dri…Why do my walls look pink at night?Either the lamps are pinkish or the paint has a red-leaning undertone that warm light brings out, and a sheet of white paper tell…Why does my grey look blue?Because a grey has almost no colour of its own, so it reports whatever pushes it: cool daylight from a north-facing window or ope…Why does my cream look yellow?Usually because something bluer sits next to it: a brilliant white trim, ceiling, bath or fabric containing optical brighteners m…Why does my dark-painted room look washed out?Either the surface is adding white or the room is too dim for the colour to show.Why does a colour I chose indoors look wrong outside?Because outdoor light is many times stronger and changes colour between sun, shade and overcast sky, and because a façade is seen…

Screens and digital

Colour that changes between devices.

Why do colours look different on my two screens?Most often because one app is not colour-managing on a wide-gamut screen, or because night mode, true tone or brightness settings…Why does my colour scheme look flat?Nearly always because the colours sit at similar lightness, so nothing stands out once the eye stops reading hue; equal saturatio…

Print

Prints that do not match.

Why do my prints look muddy and dull?Usually the paper, the conversion or the ink: uncoated and recycled papers cannot print dense, clean colour; bright screen colour…Why do two printers print the same file in different colours?Because a file only fixes colour if it names the printing condition it was prepared for; otherwise each printer's driver, profile…

Photographs

Colour casts and mismatches in photos.

Why do my photos have a green cast?Most often because the scene was lit by fluorescent tubes or low-quality LEDs, whose light carries a green excess the camera did…

Fabric and clothing

Fading, bleeding and mismatches.

Why has my fabric faded in patches?The shape of the fade usually gives the cause away.What do I do when dye has run onto other clothes in the wash?Keep the stained items wet and away from the dryer, find the culprit, and rewash the stained items promptly without it on the war…Why don't my black clothes match each other?Because 'black' fabrics reach black by different routes: different fibres take different dye types, and each black is a mixture t…

Wood, metal and other materials

Surfaces that changed colour.

Why has my metal changed colour?Depending on the metal: copper, brass and bronze tarnish and form patina; lacquered fittings discolour where their lacquer has fa…Why has my wood floor or furniture turned orange?Three things add up: pale timber itself yellows and darkens in light, many oil-based and solvent-borne clear finishes amber as th…Why has my white plastic turned yellow?Usually because light, especially ultraviolet, and heat have broken down the polymer surface, and the stabilisers that were slowi…

Matching products

Parts and products that should match and do not.

Why don't the parts of my product match?Because matching a colour across different materials, finishes and batches is harder than matching it once.Why do two whites clash with each other?Because 'white' covers warm, cool and optically brightened surfaces, in glossy, translucent and matt materials, and the eye is ve…Why do parts made from recycled material vary in colour?Because recycled feedstock carries its past with it: residual pigments, labels, inks and contamination that change with each deli…