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Color Converter

Instant bi-directional conversion between HEX, RGB, CMYK, LAB, and HSL. Standard LAB values for textile colour matching. Live swatch preview. Save favourites between sessions.

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#0B6CFF

All values

HEX:  #0B6CFF
RGB:  rgb(11, 108, 255)
HSL:  hsl(216, 100%, 52%)
CMYK: cmyk(96%, 58%, 0%, 0%)
LAB:  lab(49.5, 31.6, -79.4)

Converted with Texloom Studio · https://texloom.studio/free-tools/color-converter

HEX

RGB · 0–255

rgb

HSL · H 0–360 · S,L 0–100

hsl

CMYK · 0–100%

cmyk

Screen approximation, no press profile. Your printer will re-separate from the artwork, so send the file and a Pantone reference rather than these numbers.

LAB · D65 · L 0–100 · a,b -128 to 127

Lab

Learn more

HEX, RGB, CMYK, LAB: why you need all of them

Every color space solves a different problem. HEX and RGB describe the light your screen emits. CMYK describes the ink a printer lays on paper. HSL describes the color the way humans naturally categorise it (hue, saturation, lightness). LAB describes what the human eye actually perceives, and it's the only one where numeric distance matches perceptual difference.

Textile and print workflows routinely span all five. A designer picks a color on-screen in HEX. The print shop converts to CMYK for the press. The dye house works in LAB to match the fabric to the reference. The brand designer specifies HSL so the design system stays consistent when the palette evolves. Having a single source of truth across all formats removes a category of silent errors that only appear after fabric comes back looking wrong.

Pair this with our Color Extractor to pull colors from a reference image, and the Colorway Generator to apply them to a design. The full color pipeline, all free.

Common use cases

What designers and print shops use this for

Send LAB values to a textile dye house

Dye houses work in LAB because it matches the way dye matches pass / fail in the lab (a colour difference under 2 is an acceptable match). Pick your brand color in HEX, copy the LAB value, send to the lab.

Prepare CMYK values for a printer's spec sheet

Paste your HEX from Figma to see an approximate CMYK breakdown. Treat it as a sanity check, not a specification: this is a formula conversion with no press profile, so your printer will re-separate from the artwork using theirs. Send them the file and a Pantone reference, not these four numbers.

Build a CSS design system with HSL tokens

HSL lets you scale a primary hue across light/dark variants by changing just L. Paste HEX from a mood board, copy HSL, drop into CSS variables. Hue stability across the whole system.

Turn Lab values into screen colour

You have a physical colour standard and its measured Lab values. Paste them into our LAB fields, and the HEX / RGB / HSL all come out; on a calibrated screen, accurate enough for on-screen review.

Sanity-check a color-matching result

Pull a swatch color in LAB, paste here, look at the rendered preview, compare against your monitor. Catches obvious errors (wrong illuminant, typo in the LAB value) before you spend money on a physical proof.

Batch-document colors for a brand-book PDF

Enter each brand color, click Copy-all, paste the pre-formatted text block into your brand-book doc or Figma. Consistent format across every color. Save to favourites to reference again next session.

When to use each

Picking the right color space

HEX / RGB

Digital screens

The default for web, app UI, and any screen-rendered output. Every design tool and browser speaks RGB natively.

CMYK

Print, catalogues

The color space of ink. Always specify when sending artwork to a physical print shop. Exact reproduction needs an ICC profile match.

LAB

Textile dye, Pantone

Perceptually uniform: equal numeric distance = equal perceptual difference. The space colour-difference measurements are made in.

HSL

Design systems

Human-readable: hue, saturation, lightness. Best for CSS variables, design-token libraries, and documenting color intent.

HSV / HSB

Color pickers

Variant of HSL with 'value' instead of 'lightness'. Some Adobe tools default to this. Convert to HSL for CSS and documentation.

sRGB linear

Shader math, compositing

sRGB with gamma removed. Needed for physically correct light math (shaders, color blending). Rarely used by designers directly.

How it works

Four steps, no signup

Enter any color value

Type a HEX code (#FF6B3D), RGB (255,107,61), CMYK (0%,58%,76%,0%), or LAB (65,54,62). The tool parses any format and converts to all four automatically.

See every format at a glance

Hex, RGB, CMYK, LAB, and HSL values update live. Copy any single value with the button next to it, or grab all five as a pre-formatted text block for documentation.

Preview on a swatch

A large live swatch renders the color so you can judge it visually. Useful for confirming a HEX code matches the design-system spec or a CMYK translation hasn't shifted the color noticeably.

Save favourites or export

Starred colors persist between sessions. Export the full session as CSV or paste the text block into Figma, a spec doc, or Slack.

Why Texloom

Color math you can trust

Standard LAB values (D65, 2° observer), the reference textile labs work from.

Standard LAB

D65 illuminant, 2° observer, the usual default, and what screens and image files are measured against. Pantone publishes its LAB under D50, so card values will not match these exactly.

Bi-directional

Edit any field and every other field updates. Single source of truth, with no more copy-paste across three different sites to reconcile values.

Private

Nothing is uploaded. Work on sensitive brand colors without exposing them to any third-party.

Export as you work

Star favourites for later sessions, copy pre-formatted multi-format blocks, and build a personal color library without signup.

FAQ

Frequently asked

Q.Why do I need four color spaces?

Different parts of a design workflow use different spaces. Designers pick colors by eye in HEX or HSL. Web browsers render in RGB. Print shops run CMYK. Color matching labs (textile dye, colour QC) work in LAB because it's perceptually uniform: a difference of 2 looks the same size anywhere on the color wheel. Having all four in front of you means you can hand the right number to the right system without flipping between tools.

Q.What's LAB color space and why does textile care about it?

LAB is a color model designed so that equal distances between colors represent equal perceptual differences. It's what Pantone and other colour references are defined in, what colour differences are measured in, and what every professional color-matching lab uses to verify a dyed fabric matches a reference. If you're working with textile dyers or paint matchers, they'll ask for LAB values.

Q.Is the CMYK value accurate for print?

The conversion gives an approximate CMYK, calculated without any press or paper profile, so it is not print-ready on its own. For critical print work, your print shop will want a color-separated file made with their specific ICC profile (uncoated vs coated, US vs European, newsprint, etc.). Use these CMYK values as a starting point, confirm with your printer.

Q.Why is HEX different from some Pantone converters I've seen?

Pantone and other reference colours are defined in LAB, not HEX or RGB. Different websites and tools publish slightly different HEX equivalents because they use different screen-calibration targets. Our HEX ↔ LAB conversion follows the international colour standard that textile-industry color books use.

Q.Can I copy values into Figma, Illustrator, or CSS?

Yes. Every format has a copy button. HEX pastes directly into any tool's color picker. RGB and HSL paste into CSS (copy as a pre-formatted string). CMYK and LAB paste into Illustrator's color picker or a text field for your printer.

Q.What's HSL and when should I use it?

HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) maps how humans think about color: 'a deep saturated red', 'a pale washed blue'. It's easier to tweak by hand than RGB because changing one dimension maps to one perceptual change. Use it in CSS variables and design systems where you want color relationships to stay intuitive.

Q.Are my colors private?

Yes. Nothing is sent and nothing is stored. Work on sensitive brand-book colors without exposing them to any third-party.

Q.Can I use it commercially?

Yes. It's a math tool; there's no output file to license. Use it in any commercial design, print, or production workflow.

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