A method for obtaining an approximate standard color definition for a sample color (2) without the need for standard conditions of illumination or observation. The method comprises using color sensing equipment such as a digital camera (6) to sense under non-standard conditions both the sample color and a plurality of reference colors (5) each being provided on a template (1) and each having a known standard color definition. The sensing under non-standard conditions produces a non-standard color definition both for the sample color and for each of the reference colors. The non-standard color definitions of reference colors near in color space to the sample color are compared with the known standard color definitions for the reference colors to obtain correction factors which are then applied to the non-standard color definition of the sample color to convert it to color definition which, though it is only an approximation of the standard color definition, is nevertheless sufficiently close to the true standard color definition to be useful in color matching.