Colour shift
Colour shift is a failure where a garment in a generated or retouched image differs in hue, saturation or lightness from the real product. In a 2023 Coresight Research survey, US apparel retailers named colour as the second most common reason for returns, after size and fit.
Colour shift is the failure customers notice after delivery, when the parcel is open and the sweater is a different red. In Coresight Research's 2023 survey of US apparel retailers, colour was the second most common return reason, named by 16% of respondents, after size and fit at 53%.
Common causes
- Colour from a description instead of a reference image. "Red" covers many shades; only the product image shows which one is meant.
- A cast in the reference. A packshot shot under warm light passes its cast to every image made from it.
- Environment and light. A warm location or a coloured background pulls the garment's colour with it.
- Neighbouring garments. A strong colour next to the product bleeds into it. See reference confusion.
- Difficult colours: saturated reds, navy next to black, off-whites, neon, and white on white.
How to catch it in review
Compare with a colour-checked reference on a calibrated screen, and measure when a colour looks off: sample a flat, evenly lit area of fabric in both images and compare with Delta E. Agree the threshold before production, not during review.
How to prevent it
Take colour only from reference images, check those references against the physical sample, and make colour matching a named step for categories and channels where it has caused rejections before.
Part of garment fidelity.