In 1927 the German Institute for Quality Assurance and Certification standardised and unified the RAL 840-HR colour range. Since then RAL colour charts have been constantly adapted to the requirements of the design market. The numerical notation of the RAL colour chart guarantees a clear, concise communication that is understood across many industries.
RAL CLASSIC COLOURS - 4-digit numbers
At the beginning the 4-digit RAL CLASSIC colour range included just 40 different colours. Over the years this has been constantly enhanced and expanded, so that now, the RAL CLASSIC colour collection contains over 250 colour standards for professionals in all industries to refer to.
RAL DESIGN COLOURS - 7-digit numbers
The RAL DESIGN System has been developed for professional colour design. It contains 1688 colours arranged in a systematical order. All these 7-digit colour shades are defined as individual RAL Colours. The difference between this and the RAL CLASSIC colour collection is that the colour codes of the RAL DESIGN System are not arranged arbitrarily. They indicate the technologically measured values of Hue, Lightness and Chroma. RAL 210 6030 for instance is a colour shade with a Hue of210, a Lightness of 60 and a Chroma of 30. In case you would like to combine this colour shade with a lighter one, you could choose RAL 210 7030. You would therefore get a colour with the higher Lightness 70. The other two features of the two colours would remain unchanged. With this system the creation of harmonious colour combinations becomes very easy.
The software RAL DIGITAL, makes working on computer with the RAL Colour System very easy. RAL Colours can be imported directly into the most graphics programmes, and includes the RAL CLASSIC and RAL DESIGN Colours, making almost 1900 colours available.
The colours can be presented in an optimised form on screen or for your output device. In addition there are even more helpful programmes on the CD-ROM that make working with colours easier. The digital colour atlas for instance shows the presentation of the colours, gives a good overview of the different shades and helps choosing colours. Additional software for developing colour harmonies or for finding the closest RAL Colour facilitate the drawing up of colour designs.If you would like to know more about RAL products or services please visit www.RAL.de
