The control of colors, either visual or instrumental, needs comparison standards. In the visual case this standard has to be a real, physical sample, but in the instrumental case, it is possible to define virtual standards in the form of spectral reflectance values. The real standards are not permanent. Their color changes over time depending on the substrate, the dyes or pigments, and - depending on the storage form - this change becomes perceptible after some weeks, months or years. Another limitation of the real standards is the difficulty to reproduce them in sufficient number with acceptable reproducibility. In industry it is very common to use collections of colors standards (for example, Pantone, NCS, RAL, Color-Curve), but even then there is always a difference between samples even of the same edition, and much more between different editions. Virtual standards do not have these disadvantages, but to be able to use them, the effect of the structure of the sample on the perceived color (not shown by the values of spectral reflectance), as well as the acceptable limits of tolerance under the primary illumination (daylight) and under other illuminations (incandescent, fluorescent) have to be determined. Relevant and basic concepts of colorimetry are presented in the text, limited to the scope of the work. The objective of the work is to quantitatively verify the instrumental color difference between fabrics with different structures, the efficiency of different methods of computerized dye recipe correction calculation and the influence of the phenomenon of metamerism on colorimetric tolerances. Textile samples with different structures will be dyed in diverse colors and the effect of the structure on the instrumental tolerance for some virtual standards and some illuminants will be determined by instrumental measurements. Sample preparation and spectrophotometric measurements were performed under careful metrological control, carried out in the installations of SENAI-CETIQT, more specifically in the UOEQ (Chemical Testing Laboratory) and UOC (Applied Colorimetry Laboratory). Statistical and mathematical methods, assisted by electronic spread sheets, were used for the analysis of the results. Complementing the academic development, the experimental research took place at SENAI/CETIQT, an institution with proven scientific and technical capabilities in the field of colorimetry and outstanding laboratorial infrastructure in color metrology, that gave support to the work. The present M.Sc. Dissertation aiming at the solution of problems of industrial interest was developed in connection with an agreement celebrated between the Post-graduate Programme in Metrology of PUC-Rio and SENAI/CETIQT which cooperate to implement in the country a new area of research in metrology applied to colorimetry. For this reason, the research work was included among the 10 pilot-projects which benefited from the financial support received from the FINEP/MCT Agreement no. 22.01.0692.00, Reference 1974/01 (Green-Yellow governmental Fund) driving the research effort in metrology to the solution of industrial problems. This is why virtual standards and colorimetric tolerances in the instrumental control of the colors was selected as the central topic of this research, which successful development strongly benefited from the academic and scientific environment provided by the university and also by the outstanding laboratory infrastructure in colorimetry offered by SENAI/CETIQT. The agreement established proved to speed up the solution of complex problems requiring advanced knowledge of metrology.