There are many reasons why the colour you see on these pages may vary from the colour of the fabric, which is why we strongly recommend obtaining swatches prior to ordering.

The reasons stem from the various stages involved in bringing fabrics to the site:

Scanning

All our fabrics are scanned at 50-100 dots per inch, quite sufficient for viewing. However scanners do not represent colour perfectly and sometimes exaggerate pale yellows and light red tones. The method of scanning involves passing a light over the fabric, so its not natural light but something more akin to a flash. Because the light is 'straight on' the fabric, you don't get to see what the fabric looks like for an angle - many fabrics look a little different when looked at from the side, because of the shadows thrown up by the textures. Our Naturals really sufffer from this, sometimes looking completelt washed out under the scanner, because the relief is simply lost, but Chenilles and ribbed fabrics also only reveal one side of their character under the scanner.

Optimisation for the Internet

When a scanned fabric is converted to an internet image, the file size is compressed 4 or 5 times. Amazingly, the 'smart' compression techniques in use today don't affect the image too much providing only moderate compression is used, but it is a significant stage in the process.

Representation on your Monitor

In our experience this is by far the most important factor and gives rise to the most colour distortion. We even think that it is the monitor itself at fault rather than the graphics card in your computer and the settings in Windows, but they can all have an effect.

Recommendations for getting the the best out of the site

• Use the fastest internet connection you can. Normal dial-up modem is OK, broadband is bliss.
• Try to use the best colour setting your PC can manage (right click on the desktop and look at Properties/settings).
• If you are using a laptop, sit straight in front of the screen not at an angle.