Is the color scanner helpful to find accurate leather paint?

Recently, I have a focus on leather paints color matching so in this part, I would share my experience about "Color matching scanner" If you are my fan, you might already know that I have studied art for almost 7 years in university and work as an interior designer 10 years before I start working for Bagtouch, let say around 15 years ago. I still think that color matching and mixing are quite hard for everyone. Therefore, people try to search the shortcut but then I am one of those. Moreover, in my current job as a head trainer of Bagtouch, I need to find a simple and easy way to make it practical for my participant.

Afterward, I found the "Color Scanner" to digest the color formula. No doubt, I brought it! For me, it was extremely expensive but when I use it for real cases, unfortunately, the result came to un-satisfy as the reason below;

1. The factor of usage is not practical for example, when we use the scanner under different sources of lighting, the result comes different even it is the same handbags, same area. Consequently, the result is not accurate enough.

2. The scanner needs to use with specifying color set which is 36 colors in a very big size for each. However, our handbag recoloring work, it is average only 30ml needed for each handbag or less.

3. Another point is the luxury handbags normally made from expensive leather, high nature touch with many shades in the same leather sheet. To be clearer, let put it in this way, if we compare the human skin with leather, imagine, the skin under the bikini line is brighter than the outer. This is mean our skin has a different color. The nature leather is the same, unfinished leather got a different color called "shade variation", which made the leather unique which the lower quality one doesn't have this charming.

Although, when you see some leather handbags, even our perception said, this leather handbag is "Pink" but in fact, there are so many shades of "Pink" there. Therefore, we need to scan and mix many colors and repeat scan the color in different parts so many times, as well.

4. The last point, some of the handbags are very old and have no original color to scan! Someone might be lost in a trap! Imagine, if you scan the old fade color of the handbag because we have no ideas what the original is, then after scaned, mix the color and recolor the handbag, the customer will get the old handbags rather than the better one.

Then we simplify all of our leather paint mixing experience with the practical instruction in our BT.Color mixing formula card. The kit contains 80 color cards with other essential tools for self-learning.

To summarize, the color scanner is good though! if I did not need to pay 20,000 USD. It can find the formula but is not accurate as expected. For me, the color theory, good fundamental of leather knowledge is more important because, in the end, the human eye with experience is the most important.