This continues a series of how things we don’t notice much have evolved. Well, it’s tough to ignore the vibrant colors in a paint store but few of us stop and admire how tech savvy the color selection, matching and mixing process has become.
The range of color palettes – physical and virtual – keeps growing
If you have the formula from an earlier can of paint, it’s easy to order more. Mobile apps can help get you “close enough” to a manufacturer's shade. Or take a small sample from a previous can and most stores have a spectrophotometer which can approximate the recipe. 
Then the software takes over and precisely mixes the contents and agitates the mix for consistency.
Approximate is the key word, because devices need to be regularly calibrated. And there are so many varieties of sheen – semi-gloss, satin, eggshell etc. Still, it is impressive to watch the whole process.
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