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Color & Matching

What is Pantone TPG?

Also known as: Textile Paper Green

Paper-based proofing standard used for color review of textile designs without printing on actual fabric. Faster and cheaper than fabric strike-offs but less accurate.

In detail

Pantone TPG is a paper-based proofing system showing how Pantone TCX (Textile Cotton) colors will approximately appear, printed on coated paper rather than on cotton fabric. The advantage is workflow speed: TPG proofs print in minutes from any commercial printer, while fabric strike-offs take days from a textile print partner. The disadvantage is accuracy: paper does not match cotton's substrate properties (absorbency, surface texture, dye-ink interaction), so TPG is an approximation only. Use TPG for early-stage client review and color direction; do not use TPG as the final color approval — always order a fabric strike-off before production. Some designers use TPG as the working reference during iteration and approve only against the strike-off at the end.

Example

A designer reviews 8 colorways with a buyer in a meeting using TPG-printed swatches. They narrow to 3 candidates. The 3 candidates go to fabric strike-offs for the final color approval. TPG saved 6 days of strike-off cycles for the eliminated 5 candidates.

Related terms

Pantone TCX
Pantone Textile Cotton eXtended — the standard color reference library for textile design and production. Each TCX code identifies a specific color reproducible on cotton substrate via standardized dye recipes.
Strike-off
A small physical print of a textile design produced before committing to a full production run. Used to verify color, registration, scale, and seamlessness on the actual fabric.
CIEDE2000
A color difference formula that calculates the perceptual distance between two colors in CIE-LAB color space. The textile industry standard for evaluating whether a color match is acceptable for production.
Delta E
The numerical output of a color difference formula, expressing the perceptual distance between two colors. Lower is closer; values under 2.0 are considered commercial-grade matches.

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