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Find Colour on Image and Match to PANTONE®

Find the closest colour code in an image, photo or logo by using this tool. Pick your original colour with Hex, RGB and CMYK to match correctly.

1

Upload your image

Allowed formats: .jpg, .png
2

Click on the required colours

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3

View your closest matches

Your input

Closest matches

How to use the colour match tool

  1. Select a file on your device, upload it, and then click on each colour where a match reference is required
  2. Your selected colour is shown along with Hex, RGB and CMYK values
  3. Closest matches will be displayed on a card. Please be aware that we show the closest match, which may not be identical to the Pantone due to changes in the quality of the image when it is saved.
  4. To view a wider range of references, click on “View More” and use the scroll bars to visually compare colours. Sometimes the closest match may not be the first card.
  5. Delete colours if you don’t need them any more

Finding Hex, RGB and CMYK values from an image

This tool can be used as an online colour picker for images. Graphic designers, printers and marketing professionals often need to find the exact values for a particular spot on an image. Click on multiple areas on the image and find exact values instantly, without losing your previous choices.

Due to the compression process in many bitmap (.jpg, .png, .gif) files, areas of colour may have slightly different hex and RGB values, and will change from the original. Using a high-quality original file will improve the accuracy of the colour selection.

Ordinarily, finding a Hex code or RGB value would need to be done in a specialist graphic design application like Photoshop, GIMP or Paint.net, however it's easy to do with this tool.

What is a Pantone® colour and why are they used?

Pantone is a system used to match colours for print purposes. RGB or CMYK colour codes can be used for printing on paper, however these are not suitable for the ink matching processes used in screen and pad printing on physical products.

To ensure brand imagery is faithfully reproduced, Pantone spot references are used for each colour used in your design. Inks are mixed in a factory to the shade required and then used to print products.

Technicians will compare the final printed product with a Pantone book under natural lighting to ensure the colours are printed correctly. Using the Pantone Matching System as a base for colour ensures that prints are consistent across factories, locations, time and products.

Pantones are physical printed colours and can't be truly represented on screen, as each monitor is calibrated differently. When vector files are saved as .jpg, .png or other bitmap files, the files are compressed, and colour variation may occur.  

Coated (C) colours are used for printing on physical products, whereas U and M refer to Uncoated and Matte finishes. On screen there is little difference between these values as they contain the same CMYK percentages, however they will look different when physically printed and viewed under natural lighting. This tool matches only coated (C) Pantones for printing. 

Finding the correct Pantone colour from an image is difficult, as saving at different quality levels can drastically change the colour profile. Therefore, we only recommend using this tool if you have no other references (RGB values will be more accurate).

What happens if I don’t know my Pantone® colour?

"What colour is this?" is the question you might be asking. Great news! We've made it easy to find out what colour your image is instantly. As an employee, you may only have a .jpeg or raster file of your logo or image, without any brand guidelines for PMS codes from your marketing department. 

Tools like Adobe Illustrator can be used to substitute a hex or RGB value for the closest Pantone colour, however these aren’t available to everyone. This tool simplifies the process to a few simple clicks.

PANTONE® and other Pantone trademarks are the property of Pantone LLC.