Benjamin Moore Pocket Palette. WORKS EXCELLENT. Painting Supplies.

Benjamin Moore Pocket Palette

The Pocket Palette packs a lot of pizzazz into its thin frame. Developed by X-Rite Inc. and Benjamin Moore & Co., the handheld instrument matches the color of a surface with any of more than 3,200 Benjamin Moore paint colors stored in its database. It’s portable to boot, only 6 inches long.

Pocket Palette employs X-Rite’s proprietary color measurement technology. It scans a surface with its glass “eye,” then identifies and displays a Benjamin Moore paint color name and number that most closely matches the hue on the surface. It can take readings from horizontal, vertical and three-dimensional substrates.

The device’s database of Benjamin Moore colors contains all the hues in the Color Preview and Classic Collections systems, as well as the Historical Collection and most of the company’s popular ready-mixed colors. “The unit cannot be updated,” says Benjamin Moore & Co. senior marketing manager Jeffrey Spillane. “However, with the current color palettes in the device we cover 20 years of Benjamin Moore Colors.

When taking a reading, the device is placed flat on the substrate with its eye over the sample. The device finds a match with one click of its big button, and the chosen Benjamin Moore color is stored electronically for future reference. When reading multicolored patterns, the device will figure an average of all the colors combined and match that. The Pocket Palette’s memory can hold 20 colors at a time. It works best with solid samples, as opposed to liquids.

Benjamin Moore sells the Pocket Palette and X-Rite services it. While the Pocket Palette’s database is programmed with Benjamin Moore hues, the device’s technology could theoretically be used to identify any company’s colors.

Benjamin Moore’s expertise in this area is not surprising. The paint manufacturer was responsible for introducing the first in-store color-matching computers in the 1980s. “The original target for the Pocket Palette was the designers, decorators and painting contractors,” Spillane says. “The painting contractors seem to have taken to it faster than the designers. We have also found that our retailers have found it very useful in the store for assisting customers who are looking to match something quickly that they have brought into the store.”

Benjamin Moore has also recently upgraded the device. The new units have a protective cover that covers the color eye to protect it from getting dirty. The inside of the cap also contains a calibration plaque. Every time a user activates the device with the cover on, it automatically recalibrates itself, insuring an accurate read each time. Customers that have purchased earlier models of the Palette can have it swapped for a new unit at no charge.