Modellers Colour Matching/Mixing Toolkit Files

DESCRIPTION:

This software is intended for use by modellers who wish to experiment
with mixing paint (virtually) to match needed colours.  See section
USAGE below for more details.

STATUS:

This software is still under development and is only Beta standard at
this time.

REQUIREMENTS:

This software requires:
 - Python 3.4.3 or later
 - PyGObject 3.22 or later

INSTALLATION:

It is NOT necessary to install this software in order to use it.  All
that is necessary for the applications to be usable is for the base
directory to be in the user's PATH environment variable.

USAGE:

The software's GUI (mcmmtk.py) has 3 selectable components:

1. The Paint Mixer is the component that (once the user
has specified a colour to be matched and selected some paints for use)
enables the modeller to mix paints by specifying the number of "parts"
of each paint to be used in mixing a colour to match the specified
colour.  This mixed colour can then be saved to a list of mixed colours
(along with notes about its intended use).  When the modeller has
finished mixing the colours that they require they may print out a
report to be used as a reference while painting the model for which the
colours were mixed.

2. The Paint Series Editor is the component that enables the
modeller create/modify sets of paints for use in the mixer.
The recommended method is to produce a "sampler" of the actual paints
to be used on a suitable medium (preferably airbrushed), take a digital
photograph (or scan) and then cut and paste from that photograph into
the paint series editor where its buttons can be used to match the colour.
A Colour Sample Viewer is included as part of the editor. An example
colour sampler file has been added and should be loaded by the viewer
the first time it is launched (and after that it should remember the
last file used).
NB although manufacturer's digital colour charts can be used for a
sample source they are not necessarily accurate as they were NOT produced
with this use in mind and colours are frequently modified to accentuate
the difference between colours.
NB the provided sample is hand painted and should make it clear why an
air brushed version is preferred.

3. The Paint Standards Editor is the component that enables the
modeller create/modify paint standards for use specifiyng target
colours in the mixer.

PAINT SERIES:

At this time, the only paint series data included in the distribution is
for an imaginary set of paints known as the "Ideal Paint Colours Series"
which features six colours equally spaced around the colour circle
(at maximim chroma) together with black and white.
This series should be
automatically included in the mixer's "Paint Colour Series"->Open menu
when it is run for the first time.  Although of no real use in practice
this set of paints is useful for assessing the Mixer's potential and,
more importantly, learning how to mix paints.
If it existed it would be possible to match any colour with this set of
paints (but unfortunately it's only imaginery).

PAINT STANDARDS:

At this time, the only paint standards data included in the distribution
are for US Federal Standard 595C and British Standard 381C. Although
all care has been taken in the preparation of this data, no guarantee as
to its accuracy is made (caveat emptor).

INTERNATIONALIZATION:

The code is extensively hooked for i18n but (at the moment) there is no
localization available for languages other than English.

BUGS:

It would be greatly appreciated if any bugs encountered by users are
reported by creating an issue at:

<http://sourceforge.net/p/mcmmtk/tickets/>

FEATURE REQUESTS:

Feature requests can be made by creating an issue at:

<http://sourceforge.net/p/mcmmtk/tickets/>

or on the discussion list:

<https://sourceforge.net/p/mcmmtk/discussion/>