CodesBeautify

Pantone to HSV Converter

Turn a spot ink reference into slider values you can use on screen.

Pantone references
HSV values
Runs locally in your browser

About the Pantone to HSV Converter

Brand guidelines hand you a spot reference and your design tool hands you three sliders, so somewhere between the two a translation has to happen. Enter references such as PANTONE 185 C, a bare number, or a grey family name, and each one returns an hsv() triple with the swatch beside it, ready to type into an HSB picker in Figma, Illustrator or Photoshop.

Reading a spot colour in HSV is also a fast way to understand its behaviour. The hue angle tells you which family it belongs to and therefore which neighbours will sit comfortably next to it, the saturation tells you how much punch it will bring to a layout, and the value tells you whether text placed on top will need to be white or black. Those three facts are much harder to infer from a printed chip.

The suffix is optional and mostly cosmetic here, so 185, 185 C and PANTONE 185 C all reach the same entry. What you get back is a screen approximation of the ink rather than a licensed measurement, and every physical variable from paper stock to varnish will move the printed appearance away from it. Use it for mockups and comps, then check the real guide for anything going to press. Going the other way is HSV to Pantone, and Pantone to HEX gives you a code for CSS.

How to use

  1. List the Pantone references from your brand guidelines, one per line.
  2. Press Look up to read an hsv() triple for each.
  3. Enter the hue and the two percentages into your HSB picker.
  4. Use a printed guide when the artwork is going to press.

Common questions

Do I need to include the C suffix?
No, the coated and uncoated suffixes are stripped during lookup, so a bare number reaches the same entry.
Are the grey families supported?
Yes, the Cool Gray and Warm Gray runs from 1 to 11 are both in the table.
Why do the numbers differ from the official swatch book?
These are unlicensed screen approximations, and no monitor value can reproduce a measured ink on paper.
What if my reference is missing?
The table is a subset, so an unknown reference raises an error telling you which ranges are covered.