Find Color Codes

Hex to Pantone Converter

Enter a hex code and get the nearest Pantone shade, matched by perceptual distance rather than raw RGB difference. This is an approximation and always will be. Read the caveat below before you send anything to print on the strength of it.

The live converter needs JavaScript. The formula and the worked example below do not. They are plain HTML and will get you the same answer by hand.

How the conversion works

Both colors are converted to CIE L*a*b*, and the match is the Pantone entry with the smallest ΔE, the perceptual distance between the two. LAB is used rather than RGB because RGB distance produces matches that are numerically close and visually wrong.

Other converters

Hex → RGB RGB → Hex Hex → HSL HSL → Hex RGB → HSL Hex → HSV Hex → CMYK RGB → CMYK CMYK → RGB Hex → RGBA All formats at once →