RGB to CMYK colour converter for labels

Pick a colour with the picker, type a hex code or move the RGB sliders. The tool works out the matching CMYK values and the total ink coverage, which is the four CMYK percentages added together for the one colour you pick. Our limit for total ink is 300%, because heavy ink slows drying and can smear. It runs in your browser, so nothing you enter is uploaded. A screen is only a guide to print, so for a brand colour that has to be right, ask for a colour-matched proof.

Colours that commonly shift in print

These popular screen colours are known to shift when converted to CMYK. Click any to load it into the converter above.

Why colours shift on labels

A screen makes colour from light. A label makes it from ink on a material, so a colour you picked on screen can look different in your hand. The converter gives you CMYK values and the ink total. It can’t show how a colour will print, and the swatches on this page are screen approximations.

The material

White BOPP is a clean base, and the white of the stock lifts the colour printed on it. Kraft paper is brown, and that brown shows through the ink, so colours come out darker and duller than on white. Clear film shows whatever sits behind it. Where artwork has to hold its colour on glass or a coloured product, white ink goes down first, and we recommend proofing clear film against the actual bottle or jar.

The print method

Our digital label printing (CMYK + white) uses four process colours and opaque white. Many bright screen colours, especially neons, have no CMYK equivalent. Offset can run a mixed spot ink for them, which is how a Pantone neon or metallic gets printed.

The finish

A laminate or varnish over the ink changes how a colour looks. The same artwork can read richer under gloss and softer under matte.

How we colour-match

If a colour has to be right, say so when you ask for a quote. We can colour-match to a physical object, such as a cap or your previous labels, or to a Pantone (PMS) colour. Press checks are available at extra cost. Brands that need the same colour on every run can see how we handle it for cosmetic labels. Our printing page explains how we choose the print method for a job.

Common spot colours

Commonly requested Pantone colours for NZ label printing. Spot inks give you colours that CMYK cannot reproduce — metallics, neons, and ultra-vivid hues.

The swatches here are screen approximations; printed colour depends on the stock and press. The material, the ink set and any finish on the label can all move a colour. When the colour has to be right, ask for a physical proof. You can check the rest of your file in our artwork checker.