Color & Matching

What is Pantone TPX?

Also known as: Textile Paper eXtended

Updated 17 October 2026

TPX stands for Textile Paper eXtended: the older paper edition of Pantone's textile colours. It has been replaced by TPG, so a TPX reference in an old brand book should be checked in Pantone Connect, and fabric colour specified in TCX, before it goes to a mill.

What should you do with an old TPX reference?

TPX was Pantone's paper guide for its textile colours: the same colours as the cotton TCX library, printed as ink on paper. Pantone replaced it with TPG, the current paper edition, so today you mostly meet TPX in older brand books, archived tech packs and second-hand fan decks. The number usually stays the same between editions and only the suffix changes, but the paper and inks changed, so a TPX chip and a TPG chip can look slightly different, and neither shows how the colour will dye on fabric. Before sending an old TPX reference to a partner, confirm it in Pantone Connect or a current guide, then write the TCX reference into the spec for anything that will be dyed. Add the fabric (fibre, weight and finish) and an acceptable colour difference, and approve the mill's lab dip under D65 daylight rather than against a paper chip.

When will a designer still meet TPX?

A brand hands a new mill an older colour book where every colour is written as a TPX reference. The designer confirms each one in Pantone Connect, rewrites the spec with the TCX reference, the fabric and a tolerance, and asks the mill for lab dips to approve under D65, instead of letting the mill guess from a faded chip.