About Me

This is my website about light and color science.

Over my career I have worked with light and color through writing, software, presentations, and electronic devices with light and color sensors. I share what I have learned here for others who work with color: students, lighting designers, photographers, and display engineers.

I believe the best way to learn colorimetry — the measurement and calculation of color — is to try the calculations yourself. The interactive tools let you explore the color of light and the spectral properties of lamps and color samples. They use my colorimetry library together with collections of spectral data for light sources, paints, and displays.

You will also find information about my book, Seventeen Eyes, on how we learned to measure color and where those measurements come from. I continue to add to the site as my work develops.

Site Design

I designed the site to work on phones and tablets as well as larger screens. I use a small set of large icon buttons for navigation. The text flows in a single column on small screens and in multiple columns where there is room.

The site follows the light or dark appearance setting in your device or browser. The navigation icons use SVG, a vector graphics format that stays sharp at different sizes. Their colors change with the page background.

I aim to support the current versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. The interactive calculation tools need JavaScript and WebAssembly, a format that lets compiled code run in a browser. They also need an internet connection to load their programs and spectral data.

Please keep your browser up to date. If you find a problem with the layout or a tool, let me know, including the browser and device you are using.

Site Nuts and Bolts

When I started this site, I considered writing the pages directly in HTML and CSS. I wanted a consistent layout without repeating the same code on every page, so I chose a static site generator.

I had used Hugo before, but adapting an existing theme was more complicated than I wanted. I chose Zola, which turns Markdown text and shared page templates into finished web pages. It also compiles the style sheets, so I can build the site with a single executable. I wrote the theme myself to keep the design simple and understand how it works.

Netlify hosts the site. It saves me from maintaining a web server and gives me more time for the content and tools. I keep the source files on GitHub. Netlify is configured to build and publish the site automatically when I push updates to the publishing branch.

The pages are built in advance, which is what makes the site static. The interactive tools run their calculations in your browser. They still download program files and spectral data from the site as needed. The contact form is handled separately by Netlify.

JavaScript handles the controls and charts. The color calculations use my colorimetry library, compiled to WebAssembly.