A throw pillow, a crayon, a bird, or even a classic car. Inspiration for color comes from all kinds of places and in all shapes and sizes. Which is just one of the reasons mobile phone color apps can be one of a pro’s best friends.

Today’s apps allow pros to easily match colors to a company’s complete color collection by either taking a photo of an inspiration piece or using an image shared by a customer. Click on the exact spot on the image and you can instantly match to a company’s color library. Some apps even offer complementary color options.

“Color selection is often the biggest obstacle to getting a project started,” says Meghan Vickers, Sherwin-Williams director of e-business marketing. “When we designed our mobile color apps we tried to include as many tools as possible to help eliminate that obstacle.”

As with phone apps from other paint companies, Sherwin-Williams’ ColorSnap app is also available for the iPad. Tablet apps typically include more robust features including, in some cases, the ability to take a photo of a specific room and then apply the customer’s color picks to it.

“The larger screen found on tablets really makes the most of this visualization feature,” explains Vickers. “Plus, you can save an image with the applied colors and reference it when building a bid, or even embed the image in the bid to enhance your presentation.”

COLOR BY COMPARISON

Here’s a quick look at the features of the latest mobile color apps from six major paint manufacturers.