A series of virtual illuminants are generated by applying weighted principal component analysis (wPCA) as well as weighted mean (wM) techniques to a set of artificial lights. The weights are selected in accordance to the importance of desired light source in control and/or matching process. In fact, the created virtual illuminants can be implemented in a colorimetric color matching trial or color control processing. In the case of color matching effort, by choosing suitable weights for different lighting conditions, more balanced color difference values under those illuminants which are presented in dataset could be expected. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl. 34, 205-209, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.Interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20495