Color Science Lab User Guide

A rail at the top switches between five views: Workbench, Catalogue, Compare, Gamut audit, and Illuminants. The page opens on Workbench, or on the view you used last. The Catalogue view is the searchable catalog described in this guide. It is not one fixed calculator; it is a panel launcher for a family of color science experiments.

• Search: searches tool names, summaries, tags, domains, default models, color spaces, theories, and catalog descriptions.
• Mode switch: Basic shows Foundation tools, Advanced shows Research tools, and Both shows the full catalog.
• Favorites: star any card to keep it in the Favorites tab.
• Open Panels: lists active panels and exposes workspace layout commands.
• Compare: compares selected tools against a shared sample palette.
• Analytics: shows heat map, mind map, stats, and catalog export views.
• Keyboard shortcuts: use / for search, ? for shortcuts, F for Favorites, A for Analytics, C for Compare, R for random tool, T for tile panels, and 1-5 to focus open panels.

• Colorimetry: CIE XYZ and Lab Workbench, Chromaticity Diagram, Delta E Comparator, Standard Observer Lab, and Color Difference Suite.
• Chromatic Adaptation: Bradford Adaptation, CAT02 and CAT16 Bench, Illuminant Match Bench, Von Kries Adaptation Lab, CAT Matrix Comparison, and White Point Reference Atlas.
• Spectral Analysis: Visible Spectrum Explorer, Blackbody Radiation, Emission Line Mixer, Metamerism Workspace, Daylight and Planckian Locus, and Observer Sensitivity Curves.
• Appearance Models: CIECAM16 Sandbox, HDR Appearance Lab, Surround Adaptation Study, Fairchild Appearance Lab, Hunt and Nayatani Models, and CIECAM02 and CAM16 Comparison.
• Perceptual Spaces: Jzazbz Slice Visualizer, CAM02-UCS Distance, Uniformity Stress Test, Oklab and Oklch Workbench, CIELAB/CIELUV/LCh Suite, and HDR Uniform Space Bench.
• Color Spaces: 40+ Color Space Atlas, RGB Working Space Matrix Lab, Wide Gamut and HDR Space Lab, Video Component Space Lab, Artist Cylindrical Space Lab, Print and Process Space Lab, and CIE and Perceptual Space Map.
• Theory and History: Newton Color Theory Studio, Classic Theory Comparison, Opponent and Color Constancy Lab, and Fairchild and CAM Theory Lab.
• Gamut and Rendering: Gamut Map, Tone Curve Compression, ACES Rendering Pipeline, HDR Tone Mapping Lab, and ICC Rendering Intent Lab.

All 45 tools use the same panel control model. The selected card changes the defaults, visual interpretation, and model list, but the workflow stays consistent.

• Sample color: set the main color using a native picker, HEX text field, or Random button.
• Compare color: set a second color for Delta E, luma drift, chroma drift, and comparison chips.
• Model: choose the active model for the tool's domain, such as Bradford, CAT16, blackbody, CIECAM16, Oklch, RGB matrix, Newton wheel, ACES, or ICC intent.
• Color space / standard: select from the internal catalog of RGB, CIE, perceptual, video, print, HDR, artist, and historic spaces.
• Theory / observer: choose a theory, observer, or appearance framework.
• White points: set source and target references including A, B, C, D50, D55, D60, D65, D75, DCI, E, F2, F7, and F11.
• Strength: controls the intensity of the experiment, adaptation, compression, or preview transform.
• Color temperature: sweeps from warm incandescent to blue daylight conditions.
• Guide and adapt toggles: show or hide reference guides and turn adaptation preview on or off.

• Experiment: main canvas visualization plus Reference, Result, and Compare swatches with HEX, RGB, xy, and white-point metadata.
• Metrics: Delta E 76 to compare, Delta E after model, luma drift, chroma drift, source and result Lab, CCT color distance, active color space, coordinate readout, active theory, and target white.
• Chart: channel and Lab chart for sample, result, compare, temperature color, and derived metrics.
• Graph: response graph that changes by domain, such as adaptation response, spectral sweep, appearance curve, perceptual uniformity, space preview, theory transform, or rendering compression.
• Diagram: model-path mind map showing how input, reference white, model, and output relate.
• Audit: workflow notes, active model summary, related color spaces, related theories, catalog size, and contextual guidance.

The Catalogue view's Compare tab is for side-by-side model scanning before you open individual panels. Select up to eight visible tools and compare them against the built-in palette: Auric gold, signal red, cyan blue, forest green, violet, and skin tone.

• Selection buttons: Basic, Advanced, Filtered, and Clear manage the tool list.
• Quick Start: loads a core set covering colorimetry, adaptation, spectral, space, theory, and gamut workflows.
• Cells: each selected tool previews its transformed HEX and Delta E 76 from the reference color.
• Open buttons: open any compared tool directly as a floating panel.

• Heat Map: visualizes tool complexity by domain. Scores combine depth (Foundation or Research), a per-domain weight, and tag density.
• Mind Map: places domains and tools in a radial concept map so relationships are visible at a glance.
• Stats: summarizes tool and domain counts, the Foundation versus Research split, average score, favorites, open panels, the highest-scoring tools, domain balance, and recently opened tools.
• Catalog: displays color-space, theory, and white-point counts with the color-space and theory registries. The JSON and CSV buttons in the Analytics header export the catalog.
• Random tool: opens a random tool from the currently visible/search-filtered catalog.

Once any panel is open, the Color Control center appears as a floating companion control surface. It manages all open panels without requiring you to find each title bar.

• Workspace layout: Grid, Split H, Split V, Cascade, and Stack reposition visible panels.
• Sync all: links or unlinks every panel so shared controls propagate together.
• Minimize / Restore: moves panels to the dock or restores them.
• Export: exports an image montage of open panel canvases.
• Close all: closes unpinned panels.
• Per-panel actions: focus, sync, pin, minimize, maximize, duplicate, or close each listed panel.

• D65 to D50 adaptation: open Bradford Adaptation, CAT Matrix Comparison, and White Point Reference Atlas. Link panels, set the same sample color, then change source and target whites to inspect transform differences.
• Metamerism risk: open Metamerism Workspace, Illuminant Match Bench, and Blackbody Radiation. Compare warm, daylight, and equal-energy assumptions with the same sample and compare colors.
• Perceptual uniformity: open Oklab and Oklch Workbench, CIELAB/CIELUV/LCh Suite, Jzazbz Slice Visualizer, and CAM02-UCS Distance. Tile panels and compare chart/graph tabs.
• Wide-gamut review: open Gamut Map, Wide Gamut and HDR Space Lab, ACES Rendering Pipeline, and HDR Tone Mapping Lab. Use the rendering domain to inspect compression and gamut behavior.
• Theory study: open Newton Color Theory Studio, Classic Theory Comparison, Opponent and Color Constancy Lab, and Fairchild and CAM Theory Lab. Use the Audit tabs for related theories and model lineage.

• Workspace image: export creates a PNG montage of open panel canvases with panel names.
• Catalog JSON: Analytics exports counts, tools, color spaces, theories, and white points.
• Catalog CSV: exports one row per tool, color space, and theory; tool rows carry category, depth, score, default model, default color space, default theory, tags, and summary.
• Library capture: saves the focused panel or visible panels as presets with a compact canvas preview, detected colors, input maps, semantic input values, and color science state.
• Library restore: opens the original panel slug and reapplies saved controls after the panel has mounted.

• Search feels delayed: search input is debounced briefly. Wait a fraction of a second after typing.
• A panel did not open: the workspace limit is five panels. Pinning all five can prevent another panel from opening until one is closed.
• Linked panels are not syncing: only controls marked as shared sync keys propagate. Make sure each panel is linked.
• Color changed to black while typing: finish a full valid HEX value or press Enter. Partial text is preserved until it can be normalized.
• Canvas looks too small after resize: resize or maximize the panel once; the renderer recalculates HiDPI canvas dimensions when panels render.
• Workspace export misses a hidden panel: restore minimized panels before exporting if you want their current canvases in the montage.
• Saved preset reopens but values look old: wait for the second animation frame restore pass, then verify that the saved asset included semantic inputs or control values.