Print Colour Converter
Converts RGB to CMYK with the plain formula (no ICC or paper profile) and flags saturated colours a four-ink press will dull.
Converts a screen colour to CMYK percentages and back, and flags the colours that a four-ink press is likely to dull. It is the naive formula, not a colour-managed conversion — there is no ICC profile behind it, and the page says so rather than letting you believe otherwise.
An approximation, with no ICC profile behind it.
The CMYK here comes from the textbook formula (K = 1 − max(R,G,B), C = (1 − R − K)/(1 − K) …), and what a press actually prints depends on the ink, the paper and the profile — FOGRA39, Japan Color 2001 and the rest. Do the final conversion in InDesign or Illustrator with the profile your printer asked for. This page is for seeing roughly which plates a colour lands on.
RGB → CMYK
HEX, rgb(), hsl(), oklch() and colour names all work.
C
59%
M
58%
Y
0%
K
5%
CMYK → RGB
Percentages (0–100) or decimals (0–1), separated by commas or spaces. Enter a value and the colour on the left follows it.
- CMYK (%)
- 59, 58, 0, 5
- CSS device-cmyk()
- device-cmyk(59% 58% 0% 5%)
- CMYK (0–1)
- 0.589 0.577 0.000 0.055
- HEX
- #6366f1
- RGB
- rgb(99 102 241)
Printable (estimated)
Likely to go muddy
OKLCH chroma
0.204
Hue angle
277°
A highly saturated colour. Four-ink printing on coated stock usually turns it visibly muddy — consider a PANTONE spot instead. This verdict is a rule of thumb based on chroma, not a gamut calculation.
This colour will probably print differently from what you see
For conversion between other notations use colour code conversion, and for legibility use the contrast checker.
How to use it
Put the colour in
Hex, `rgb()`, `hsl()`, `oklch()` or a CSS colour name. The four plates appear as percentages with a bar each.
Or go the other way
Paste CMYK as `0 62 100 0`, with percent signs, with commas, or as `cmyk(...)`. The colour on the left follows.
Read the printability estimate
It is a rule of thumb on OKLCH chroma, not a gamut calculation. What it is good for is spotting the vivid blue or green that will come back from the printer looking nothing like the screen.
Common questions
Can I send these numbers to a printer?
Not as final values. Real conversion needs the profile your printer works to — FOGRA39, Japan Color 2001 Coated, whichever — and the ink, paper and press all move the result. Convert in InDesign or Illustrator with that profile; use this to see roughly which plates a colour lands on.
Why does my brand blue look dead in print?
Because the vivid blues, greens and oranges a screen can emit are outside what cyan, magenta, yellow and black can mix. There is no CMYK value that fixes it — a spot colour (PANTONE) is the answer when the colour has to be exact, and a slightly less saturated version is the answer when it does not.
What is rich black, and does this produce it?
It does not. Pure black here is `0 0 0 100`, which on a large area prints as a slightly washed grey. A rich black adds cyan and magenta underneath — printers usually specify their own mix, so ask rather than guess.
Why do the numbers differ from Photoshop?
Because Photoshop is doing a profiled conversion and this is doing arithmetic. The difference is exactly the value a colour-managed workflow adds — which is why the final file should come from that workflow and not from here.
Feed it from
Colour Format Converter
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Colour Picker
Picks a colour on an OKLCH field, with a screen eyedropper or from an uploaded image, and copies it in any notation.
Contrast Checker
Scores a foreground and background pair against WCAG 2 and APCA and suggests the nearest passing colour.
Palette Generator
Builds a harmonious palette from a base colour using complementary, triadic and analogous rules.
Next
These accept what this tool produces, so the result can go straight in.
Colour Format Converter
Converts a colour between HEX, RGB, HSL, HWB, LAB, LCH and OKLCH and names the nearest known colour.
Palette Extractor
Pulls an N-colour palette out of an image and exports it as hex, CSS variables or an ASE swatch.
PDF/A Converter
Converts to PDF/A-2b or PDF/A-1b — XMP identification, an sRGB output intent computed from IEC 61966-2.1, no encryption, no scripts — and refuses, with reasons, when a font is not embedded or a page paints in CMYK.
Colour Picker
Picks a colour on an OKLCH field, with a screen eyedropper or from an uploaded image, and copies it in any notation.
Contrast Checker
Scores a foreground and background pair against WCAG 2 and APCA and suggests the nearest passing colour.
Palette Generator
Builds a harmonious palette from a base colour using complementary, triadic and analogous rules.