Color Index

Color Index has emerged as the most authoritative way for searching your exact needs of Dyes and Pigments from available wide range of colors available today. Basically a compendium of dyes, as the chemical names can be confusing and complicated, the practice to use names that are descriptive has arisen.

Color index was prepared in U.K. by the Society of Dyers and Colorists, while in USA it was prepared by American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists. With rise in the system of Color Indexing, many confusions that earlier were associated with naming and colors of Dyes as well as Pigments have been effectively sorted out.

In general terms, dye is referred by a simple name or common that can be easily comprehended by people who work with them. But here one issue arise that dyes may have names that are more than one. For example, basic fuchsia which earlier was known as magenta and light green that is popularly used to refer to dye methyl green. With some of these names being historical, there might be instances where for selling single compound, different manufacturers use different names so as to avoid issues related to copyright or trademarks.

It is basically a compendium of dyes. Prepared in UK by the Society of Dyers and Colorists and in USA by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, it is made available both in book form as well as on CD as well. In reference book there are very specific systems for identifying individual dyes. His includes assigning a five digit number to each individual chemical which is used as dye. Consequently, individual dyes get identified in reference to their CI numbers only.

Color index also has system for assigning specific names (CI Names) for each of dyes so as to avoid confusion regarding chemicals. These names were given based upon dye's:

• Mode of behavior
• Base color
• Action

For example, CI name given for chromoxane cyanine R (CI 43820) is Mordant Blue 3. Thus, CI name provides specific way to identify a dye. Although CI names are used less often than CI numbers, CI names play a useful part in identifying a dye for particular staining method.

Following table illustrates use of Color Index for yellow Organic pigment:

C.I. Generic Name	C.I. Number	CAS Number	Color
P.Y.17	21105	4541-49-1	Greenish Yellow
P.Y.74	11741	6358-31-2	Bright greenish yellow
P.Y.81	21127	22094-93-5	Lemon yellow shade

Features of Color Index:
Detailed record of products which can be found in market is put under Color Index reference. Here, for each product’s name, there is listing of:

• Manufacturer's name
• Principal usages
• Physical form
• Comments to help customers

The format is devised after taking into confidence coloration industry that include prominent:

• Manufacturers
• Users
• CPMA
• ETAD

Colorants get listed in Color Index strictly in accordance with system of:

• Color Index Generic Names Color
• Index Constitution Numbers

Today, around 27,000 individual products are listed under total of 13,000 Color Index Generic Names. These are listed with chemical structures that are depicted in accordance with results obtained by modern researches on molecular conformation. Further, a popular format has been devised with a unique 'fingerprint' concept. Here, Part 1 of information gets freshly confirmed with suppliers and manufacturers and Part 2 of information is either confirmed freshly with suppliers & manufacturers or is depicted as "carried over from previous edition.

Application Areas of Color Index:

• Textile manufacturers
• Paint manufacturers & suppliers
• Colorant users, suppliers & manufacturers
• Manufacturers and suppliers of Plastics
• Testing labs, Libraries, academic institutions
• Producers of Printing ink along with suppliers

Highlights of the Color Index
Following three tables highlight major information that is related to Color Index:

Part 1 Dye Groupings:

Acid	Mordant
Disperse	Natural Dyes and pigments
Food	Leather
Direct	Vat
Reactive	Ingrain Dyes
Azoic Diazo components	Azoic Coupling components
Oxidation Bases	Optical Brighteners
Intermediate Products	Reducing agents and Developers
Each group of Dyes is subdivided into Green, Violet, Blue, Yellow, Red, Orange, Brown and Black

Part 2:

Manufacturing methods	Structural formula (if known) of Dyes
References (literature and patents)

Part 3:

Indexes	Abbreviations of manufacturers' names
Generic names	Commercial names
Color Index is able to provide dye/pigment with 2 reference numbers on criteria of Coloristic aspects

Chemical classification:

• First one is area of application & technique of coloration=>the C.I. Generic name
• Second technique is one known as C.I. Constitution numbers
• Also provision of listing all commercial names