Paaschemethoden

Paaschemethoden (Paasche methods) is a term used in color science to denote a family of color-matching and pigment-mixing procedures named after Paasche. They are employed to determine how to reproduce a target color by blending available base pigments or inks in subtractive color systems such as painting, printing, and coatings. In this framework a color is treated as a mixture of base components, and the goal is to find the proportions of each component that best reproduce the target.

Conceptually, the Paasche method expresses the color composition with positive coefficients for each base pigment relative to the final mixture. If T represents the target color and P1, P2, …, Pn denote the base pigments with color coordinates in a chosen color space, the Paasche solution seeks weights w1, w2, …, wn such that the sum of the weights equals 1 and T is approximated by the weighted sum w1P1 + w2P2 + … + wnPn. The result is a recipe that specifies how much of each pigment to mix into the final color.

Practically, the process involves measuring the pigments’ color coordinates, setting up a system of linear equations, solving for the weights, and then preparing the mixture according to those proportions. The method is intuitive when the target color lies within the convex hull of the available pigments, but it can yield negative or infeasible quantities if the target is outside that hull; in such cases approximation, substitution, or alternative formulations are used.

Paaschemethoden are among classic color-matching approaches and are contrasted with other methods that use different reference states or mixing conventions. They have historically supported standardization in paint, ink, and printing industries, and remain relevant in color quality control and pigment blending discussions.