Color misrepresentation for online fabric
 

I am very aware that shopping for fabric online has certain downfalls, in which there is no remedy.
However, color is something that I generally don't have a problem with when ordering from
many online shops. But I find one shop in particular who I find particularly bad in this department.
So bad, as if I should want to order fabric from them, I MUST try and locate the same fabric online by other
vendors, so I can see what the fabric colors actually looks like.

I am just curious if others have experienced this.

It is probably an artifact of the software the vendor uses for photos. You might want to let them know. It is notoriously hard to get accurate colors to show on a computer monitor. Professional photographers buy expensive monitors with specialized color adjusting software. However it sounds like it is just this one vendor’s issue, not your monitor.

There is a wide range in quality of the fabric photos between different websites. My favorite feature is the zoom over, where you can scroll over the photo and it is greatly enlarged so you can see the details of the print. A couple of my favorite fabric vendors have recently 'improved' their websites, and this feature was eliminated. So frustrating.

I often do a google search to see other pictures of a fabric if I can't make out enough detail on the website I'm buying from, or if I really need it to be a specific color. I think when buying online, you always have to be prepared that the fabric might look different than anticipated.

Zooming in on a fabric swatch online can make it look like a totally different color. The color saturation you see on your computer depends a lot on your screen (monitor) and it also depends on the sharpness of the photo that the seller put on their website. The color will vary from your screen to my screen. I've looked at fabric online using my computer and looked at the same swatch using my phone and they looked different, one was brighter.

Agreeing with the others about the various issues of monitors and software and other issues. I have vision issues and have also adjusted my gamma settings, hard to explain but my screen is blacker/more saturated but is less hard on my eyes.

Just think about what a difference sunlight or Ott lights and various artificial lights can do to a fabric and multiply that.

You are going to have the best results matching fabrics that come from the same line, not just brand like Moda (which will help), but lines within the brand. I like the feature on equilter that lets you pick a color and then search for matching colors but I wouldn't trust that either. Basically, if you have to get a dead on match, you are going to need to do that in person.

Yes, just recently ordered what was suppose to be brown fabric but turned out to be more of a dark dark purple. It was brown in the picture. I also ordered a jelly roll from a popular web site but was very disappointed. They must have run out of what was supposed to go in the jelly roll and sub. something else. Very disappointed. I have ordered on line for many years with no problem until now.

Reminds me of when I orders several one yard cuts from a great online place. Every fabric I ordered (cream colored batiks) coordinated, just not the color I wanted.. It was peachy tones instead of almond tones. I don't know if it was them or me but, at least it was usable.. I think my browser was set wrong.

Only once. I pretty much shop for my fabrics at Fabric.com. The colors a true to form for me. Right now I am doing my best not to order fabrics but work from my stash. Moratorium on fabric. The one time I was disappointed was enough. I got over it some time ago.

To be clear, I think most vendors do their best to represent their fabric as best they can. I am a fabriholic, and weekly buy from a number of online stores. As far as monitors go, I have always prioritized screen resolution in choosing my computer (hence, the cost https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wave.gif) I am happy with most vendors, but just surprised at a few.