About the Pantone to HEX Converter
Brand guidelines hand you a Pantone number and the website needs six hexadecimal digits, so this lookup is usually the first thing a developer does with a new set of brand assets. Type the reference in whatever shape it appears in the document: PANTONE 185 C, PMS 185, 185c or just 185 all resolve to the same entry, and the C or U suffix is ignored.
Named inks are covered as well as numbers. Reflex Blue, Rubine Red, Rhodamine Red, Warm Red, Process Blue, Process Cyan, Process Magenta, Purple, Violet, Green, Black and Black 6 are all recognised, as are Cool Gray 1 through 11 and Warm Gray 1 through 11, with either spelling of grey. Put one reference on each line to look up a whole guideline in a single pass.
The codes are screen approximations of a physical ink, so they will not survive a colourimeter test. An ink has a finish and sits on a stock, neither of which a monitor reproduces, and different published tables disagree by a few units. That is fine for a web palette and not fine for a press check. Once you have the code, test it for readability with the Contrast Checker and build a UI scale from it with the Tints and Shades Generator.
How to use
- Enter Pantone references, one per line.
- The PANTONE prefix and the C or U suffix are both optional.
- Press Look up to see the swatch and HEX code.
- Copy the codes into your stylesheet or tokens file.
Common questions
- How should I type the reference?
- Any of PANTONE 185 C, PMS 185, 185c or 185 works, and grey may be spelled either way.
- Are these the official Pantone HEX values?
- No, they are widely published sRGB approximations, close enough for screen work but not a licensed library.
- Which references are included?
- A subset of Solid Coated: common numbered inks, the base colours such as Reflex Blue, and the Cool Gray and Warm Gray ranges.
- My reference was not found, what now?
- Check the number, then use HEX to Pantone in reverse on a sampled colour, or ask the brand owner for the sRGB value.