Converting colours between RAL, NCS and Pantone
Enter a colour and see at once what comes closest in the other systems. The tool works on Lab measurements and states the size of the difference with every result, so you know where you stand before anything is produced.
Four kinds of input are recognised: a RAL code from Classic, Design plus or Effect, an NCS notation, a Pantone number from the Coated range, and a hex value. Tick the systems you want to convert to.
- Lab
- 42.7 / 67.2 / 55.2
- LRV
- 13.0
- Hex
- #CC0605
- RGB
- 204 · 6 · 5
- CMYK
- 0 · 97 · 98 · 20
- NCS 1084-Y73RThe calculated NCS value of your entry.
- NCS S 1085-Y80RΔE 7.2 · a different colour
- NCS S 1085-Y90RΔE 8.6 · a different colour
- NCS S 0585-Y80RΔE 11.0 · a different colour
- NCS S 0585-Y70RΔE 13.7 · a different colour
Always judge the result visually.
Order NCS colour samples at ncskleuren.nl ↗- 7626 CΔE 4.7 · clearly visible#C63527 · RGB 198·53·39 · CMYK 0·93·95·2
- 180 CΔE 5.2 · a different colour#BE3A34 · RGB 190·58·52 · CMYK 3·91·86·12
- 485 CΔE 5.7 · a different colour#DA291C · RGB 218·41·28 · CMYK 0·95·100·0
The systems the tool knows
The four collections were established independently, on different substrates and with different pigments. A colour from one does not reappear in another; what the tool calculates is the nearest neighbour.
- RAL Classic
- The 216 historically grown colours, including the safety and signal colours. Not systematically built: these colours do not lie on a grid, which is why the difference from a requested colour can be largest here.
- RAL Design System plus
- 1,825 colours built systematically on the CIELAB model. The code can be read off: hue first, then lightness, then chroma. This is usually the collection where a conversion lands closest.
- RAL Effect
- 490 colours based on water-borne paint systems, each colour family with a matching metallic. The metallics carry a caveat: an effect colour changes with the viewing angle, and that is not in a single measurement.
- Natural Colour System (NCS)
- From your entry we calculate the exact NCS colour and the nearest NCS colour, with the ΔE2000 value alongside. Always judge the result visually.
- Pantone Coated (1313)
- The Coated range. Mind the suffix: PMS 185 U is a different colour from PMS 185 C. The Uncoated range is not in this tool.
What the colour difference means
The difference is given in ΔE2000. That is not the plain distance between two points: the formula corrects for the fact that the eye is not equally sensitive everywhere in the colour space. It sees more difference in the greens than in the blues, and more at low chroma than at high. Without that correction, blues and greys produce results that are right on paper and visibly wrong in the flesh.
- ΔE < 1
- Not visible to an untrained eye.
- ΔE 1 – 2
- Visible only when the two colours touch.
- ΔE 2 – 3,5
- Shows as soon as you compare. Usually usable for a standalone part.
- ΔE 3,5 – 5
- Clearly visible. Not for use where two surfaces meet.
- ΔE > 5
- A different colour.
Where the limit lies depends on the application. On a façade, or in a product line where parts sit side by side, a difference of 2 already weighs heavily; on a single part that touches nothing, 3 is often no problem.
Lab, hex, RGB and CMYK are not interchangeable
Lab is the measurement, and that is what the tool works on. Hex and RGB are the same value in two notations: a rendering on a screen. Two colours far apart in hex can sit close together in Lab, and the other way round, so searching on hex returns the wrong neighbour.
CMYK depends on paper, ink set and press profile. Use the value to orient yourself and judge the colour on a proof.
The LRV is the light reflectance value: how much light a colour reflects, from 0 for full black to 100 for full white.
From a calculation to a decision
The same colour behaves differently on different materials and finishes. On powder coating it comes out differently than on paint, and the gloss level changes how saturated it looks.
So always judge the result visually, on physical material in the final finish and beside the colour you are trying to approximate.
Frequently asked questions about colour conversion
Rather have it measured?
We read the source colour with a colorimeter, find the nearest colour in the system you want and say whether the difference will be noticeable in your application. Send us the source colour and the target system.