Color Palettes in Scribus (4): dtp studio Colors

The following color palettes have been donated by dtp studio Oldenburg, a company that is specialized in color measurement and color related software products, among them Digital Colour Atlas, a software that contains many more palettes for use with Scribus, as well as additional useful features, such as color calculations for hundreds of color systems and all relevant color models.

What makes these palettes particularly valuable is the fact that the original colors have been meticulously measured by dtp studio’s engineers. From the measured color values the engineers created five palettes for every color set, each with a different output target, hence the existence of five files for each set. These targets are:

  1. sRGB – ICC profile: sRGB. Files with bs00 in their name.
  2. AppleRGB – ICC profile: AppleRGB. Files with bs01 in their name.
  3. Coated Paper – ICC profile: ISOcoated_v2_eci.ICC (ECI). Files with kd01 in their name.
  4. Uncoated Paper – ICC profile: ISOuncoated.ICC (ECI). Files with np01 in their name.
  5. Newspaper Print – ICC profile: ISOnewspaper26v4.ICC (IFRA). Files with zd01 in their name.

In case you wonder what the abbreviations mean, remember that the palette files have been created by a German company. “bs” is an abbreviation for “Bildschirm” (monitor, screen); “kd” means “Kunstdruck” (printing on coated paper); “np” stands either for “Naturpapier” or “Normalpapier” (uncoated paper); “zd” is a short for “Zeitungsdruck” (newspaper printing). This naming scheme exists due to historical conventions, for which dtp studio bears no responsibility.

Note that you need to install the profiles listed above to use the colors reliably in four-color print workflows.

dtp studio has measured many more color systems and created palette sets, all of which can be bought online separately. For the future, the company has plans to support Scribus directly, but for the time being you can safely order EPS palettes and install them as “system” or “locked palettes” according to the general instructions.

If you need a physical color reference for printing purposes, you can also acquire a printed CMYK Book that covers the whole range of color systems measured by dtp studio, not just the small selection included in Scribus and described below.


The HKS K equivalent J+S K for newspaper print from dtp studio in the Scribus Color Manager

dtp studio Palettes Shipped with Scribus

Name Color Vendor Description Number of Colors Color Model Spot
Alligator Collection 3000 www.alligator.de Color type: Paint; Vendor color reference: Alligator Collection 3000
This file may be outdated. Please check palettes.de for an update.
208 CMYK Yes
Alligator Collection 4000 www.alligator.de Color type: Paint; Vendor color reference: Alligator Collection 4000
This file may be outdated. Please check palettes.de for an update.
121 CMYK Yes
BannerRite H. BRUNNER GmbH Color type: Polyester fabric; Vendor color reference: BannerRite 9 CMYK Yes
Baumann System Prase Paul Baumann, Aue, Sachsen Color type: n/a; Vendor color reference: n/a
“Baumanns Neue Farbtonkarte, System Prase” is an older color system, developed by the painter Otto Prase, which was published for the first time in 1912 by the Saxonian paint manufacturer Baumann. It includes the colors and their mixtures, as well as many informations about color and chromatics and serves as the foundation for many modern color systems.
1372 CMYK Yes
Colortrend Wood Stains Evonik Industries - Colortrend B.V. Color type: Wood colorants; Vendor color reference: Colortrend Wood Stains 46 CMYK Yes
DEUTSCHEpapier Deutsche Papier Vertriebs GmbH Color type: Paper color; Vendor color references: Trendcolor, Colorline, Paradiso 65 CMYK Yes
DRAKA POLYA Color type: n/a; Vendor color reference: n/a 71 CMYK Yes
GS Palette 141 Kunstdruck Druckfarbenfabrik Gebr. Schmidt GmbH Color type: Ink, Vendor color reference: n/a 450 CMYK Yes
GS Palette 141 Naturpapier Druckfarbenfabrik Gebr. Schmidt GmbH Color type: Ink, Vendor color reference: n/a 150 CMYK Yes
Heidelberger ip Oberputze HeidelbergCement AG Color type: Plaster; Vendor color reference: ip upper plaster 130 CMYK Yes
ispo 840 Ispo Putz- u. Farbenwerk GmbH & Co. KG Color type: Paint; Vendor color reference: ispo 840 840 CMYK Yes
ispo 2001 Ispo Putz- u. Farbenwerk GmbH & Co. KG Color type: Paint; Vendor color reference: ispo 2001 400 CMYK Yes
J&S K Jänecke+Schneemann Druckfarben GmbH Color type: Ink; Vendor color reference: J+S Coated Paper
Note: The colors in this palette are identical to HKS K, the major difference being a leading zero to every number. Example: “J+S K 010 K” is the equivalent of “HKS K 1K”. Additional J+S colors not present in the HKS palette can be identified by a trailing “1”, e.g. “J+S K 121 K”.)
If you need other variants of the HKS color set (e.g. HKS N), but can’t find them on the HKS website, you can check whether palettes.de provides either the J+S equivalents, or you may consider acquiring the Digital Colour Atlas.
98 CMYK Yes
kera Colour Line Color type: n/a; Vendor color reference: n/a 190 CMYK Yes
KOBRA Spraytec Group Color type: Paint; Vendor color reference: KOBRA 52 CMYK Yes
Koessinger Keramik-Druck Kössinger AG Color type: Ceramic printing inks; Vendor color reference: Koessinger Keramik-Druck 72 CMYK Yes
Oracal 451 ORAFOL-Klebetechnik GmbH Color type: Foils; Vendor color reference: Oracal Series 451 19 CMYK Yes
Oracal 6510 ORAFOL-Klebetechnik GmbH Color type: Foils; Vendor color reference: Oracal Series 6510 7 CMYK Yes
OSMO Einmallasur Osmo Holz und Color GmbH & Co.KG Color type: One-way varnish; Vendor color reference: n/a 14 CMYK Yes
PRB Color PRB Color type: Paint; Vendor color reference: n/a 45 CMYK Yes
Sericol UCG Leuchtfarben Fujifilm Sericol Deutschland GmbH Color type: Fluorescent inks and tinters; Vendor color reference: Universal Colour Guide 10 CMYK Yes
Sericol UCG MatchingSystems Fujifilm Sericol Deutschland GmbH Color type: Seritone Matching System; Vendor color reference: Universal Colour Guide 10 CMYK Yes
swedex SWEDEX Color type: Cardboard binding; Vendor color reference: Master-bind 41 CMYK Yes
TAG Farbe erleben Color type: n/a; Vendor color reference: n/a 160 CMYK Yes