Why HEX to Pantone is a match, not a conversion
A hex code such as #1F5F6B is three numbers for the red, green and blue light of a screen in the sRGB color space. A Pantone color is a specific ink, or a dyed textile standard, defined by how it looks on a specific material. Converting between hex, RGB and HSL is exact arithmetic. Going from hex to Pantone means searching a physical color library for the swatch that looks closest, and there is always some difference.
Two more things make it a judgment rather than a formula. First, many screen colors cannot be printed at all, either with CMYK process ink or with any single spot ink, especially very saturated blues, greens and oranges. Second, the same Pantone number looks different on coated and uncoated paper, so “the Pantone of this hex” depends on what you print on.
Every online tool that shows a Pantone number for a hex code, including this one, works from a table of screen approximations. Use the matches to shortlist two or three candidates, then choose on paper.
Coated, uncoated and textile: which Pantone guide
| Suffix | What it means | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| C | The ink printed on coated paper, which has a smooth, sealed surface | Brochures, packaging, glossy or silk paper, most marketing print |
| U | The same ink on uncoated paper, which absorbs more ink, so colors look softer and darker | Letterheads, envelopes, notebooks, matte and recycled stock |
| TCX, TPG | The Fashion, Home + Interiors system: dyed cotton (TCX) and printed paper (TPG) standards | Textiles, apparel, home goods, interior finishes |
| CP, UP | Pantone colors simulated with CMYK process inks on coated or uncoated paper | Jobs printed in four-color process where no spot ink is used |
So a brand color often has two Pantone references in its guidelines: one C and one U, chosen separately by eye, because the closest C and the closest U are not always the same number. Packaging and textile jobs add their own.
How to choose the right Pantone for a brand color
- Start from the master color. Use the hex code from your brand guidelines, not one sampled from a compressed image or a screenshot.
- Shortlist on screen. Search the hex in Pantone's Color Finder or Pantone Connect in the guide that matches your material (C, U or TCX). Note the two or three nearest numbers.
- Decide on paper. Compare the candidates in a printed Pantone guide, under daylight-balanced light. Screens vary too much to approve a print color on them. Printers and designers use standard viewing light (D50) for this.
- Record the result. Put the chosen Pantone C and U, the CMYK your printer recommends and the hex side by side in your brand guidelines, so every supplier works from the same references.
- Ask for a proof. For a print run that matters, approve a printed proof or a drawdown of the ink on the real paper before the job goes to press.
If you only print in CMYK, a Pantone number is still useful as the target your printer matches, but the CMYK values should come from your printer's own profile. The HEX to RGB converter explains why the formula CMYK on this page is only a starting point.
Pantone and DEMARCA
Pantone's color libraries, names and numbers belong to Pantone LLC, which licenses them through Pantone Connect and its printed guides. This page does not use Pantone's data. The nearest colors come from Freetone, a free palette the artist Stuart Semple released in 2022 after Pantone colors were removed from free Adobe libraries. Freetone stores each color as CMYK and names it after the Pantone Solid Coated color it imitates. We convert those CMYK values to screen color and compare them with yours on our server, so the full palette is never sent to your browser, and the page shows only the five nearest colors.
That makes the matches a shortlist, not a specification. How close a Freetone color is to the real Pantone ink is not something we can verify, and it only covers coated colors. Confirm the number in Pantone's own tools and in a printed guide before you send it to a printer.
Methodology and limits
- RGB and HSL
- Exact conversion from the hex code (sRGB), as in the CSS Color Module.
- CMYK
- The simple formula K = 1 − max(R, G, B), C = (1 − R − K) ÷ (1 − K) and the same for M and Y. No ICC profile, paper or ink limit is applied, so it is not the CMYK a printer would use.
- Nearest colors
- The 1,310 unique colors of the Freetone palette (2,620 swatches, each listed twice) are converted from their stored CMYK to sRGB with the public-domain Chemical proof profile (relative colorimetric). Your color is compared with every one using the CIEDE2000 color difference, on our server, and the five smallest differences are returned. A difference around 1 is at the edge of what most people notice side by side; larger numbers are easier to see.
- Coverage
- Freetone imitates the Solid Coated (C) library only, plus four colors of its own (Blackest Black 3.0, IKB, Pinkest Pink and Tiff), which are labelled as Freetone originals. There are no uncoated, textile or metallic colors.
- Limits
- Matches are approximations of approximations: Freetone's own values, converted with a generic proof profile, shown on your screen. Up to 60 searches per day from one connection, to stop automated copying of the palette.
- Guide
- The suggested guide (C, U or TCX and TPG) depends only on the material you choose.
- Screens
- Screens differ in color, so the swatches are only as accurate as your display. Approve print colors on paper.
Sources
Show all 8 sources
- Pantone Color Finder, Pantone, the official search from hex, RGB and CMYK to the nearest Pantone colors
- Pantone Connect, Pantone, the digital Pantone color libraries
- Freetone, a free CMYK color palette by Stuart Semple, released October 2022, the source of the nearest colors
- libvips, which ships the Chemical proof CMYK profile by Graeme W. Gill, released into the public domain, used for the CMYK to screen conversion
- Sharma, G., Wu, W. and Dalal, E. N. (2005). The CIEDE2000 color-difference formula, Color Research and Application, 30(1), 21 to 30
- CSS Color Module Level 4, W3C, hex notation and sRGB
- ISO 3664:2009, Graphic technology and photography: viewing conditions, ISO, the standard viewing light for judging print color
- Introduction to the ICC profile format, International Color Consortium, on profile-based conversion for print
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