Pantone to RGB Converter
Look up the screen-ready RGB value for a Pantone spot colour so a print brand colour can be reproduced as closely as possible on the web, in apps and in slides.
Example: PANTONE 185, PANTONE 100
R
G
B
What does a Pantone to RGB converter do?
A Pantone to RGB converter takes a spot-colour code — say Pantone 2186 C — and returns the red, green and blue values that best represent that ink on a screen. Pantone publishes a reference RGB for each colour precisely so that print brand colours can be carried into digital media, and this tool surfaces that value for you to copy.
It's the natural companion to the screen-to-Pantone tools: those help you take a digital colour toward print, while this one brings a print colour back to the screen. The direction matters because the brand source of truth is often a Pantone number written on a printed style guide, and your job is to render it online.
Bear in mind the relationship isn't a clean equation. The RGB value is the best on-screen stand-in for a physical ink, and how true it looks depends on the display. Everything runs locally in your browser.
How to convert Pantone to RGB
- 1
Enter the Pantone code
Type the PMS number and its suffix, for example 2186 C, exactly as it appears in your brand guide.
- 2
Read the RGB value
The published red, green and blue channels appear with a live preview of the colour.
- 3
Copy and apply
Copy the RGB triplet into CSS, a design tool, or a presentation theme.
- 4
Mind the medium
Remember this is a screen approximation of an ink; for printed pieces, keep using the Pantone code itself.
Why convert Pantone to RGB
Bring print brands online
Render a logo or palette defined in Pantone accurately enough for websites, apps and email.
Consistent digital theming
Drive buttons, headers and accents from the same intended brand colour your print materials use.
Fast handoff to developers
Give engineers a concrete RGB value instead of asking them to eyeball a Pantone chip.
No data leaves the page
The lookup is local, so unreleased brand colours stay on your machine.
Worked example
A Pantone spot colour resolved to its screen RGB value.
Pantone 2186 Crgb(0, 112, 220) • #0070DCThis is the published screen representation of the ink. It's an approximation — on an uncalibrated display it may read warmer or cooler than the printed colour.
Why the RGB is an approximation of the ink
A Pantone colour is defined by a physical ink, not by light. The published RGB is the manufacturer's best attempt to represent that ink on an idealised screen — but printed ink reflects light while a display emits it, and the two never match perfectly. Some spot colours, especially metallics, fluorescents and very deep saturated inks, simply can't be reproduced on a standard sRGB monitor, so their RGB stand-in is only an impression.
Display calibration compounds this. The exact same RGB triplet looks different on a phone, a budget laptop, and a colour-managed studio monitor. So while the value here is the right number to use digitally, don't expect the screen to be a faithful proof of the printed colour.
Use the right colour for the right medium
- For screens — websites, apps, slides, video — use the RGB value from this tool.
- For print — packaging, signage, merchandise — keep specifying the original Pantone code, not the RGB.
- Don't print the RGB-derived colour as a CMYK build and expect it to equal the spot ink; it won't.
- When brand fidelity is critical on screen, prefer a colour-calibrated display to judge the result.
Frequently asked questions
No. It's the best on-screen representation of a physical ink. Light-emitting screens can't perfectly reproduce reflected ink, especially for metallics, neons and very deep colours.
No. For print, keep using the Pantone code itself. The RGB is meant for screens — websites, apps and presentations.
Displays vary in calibration and gamut, so the same RGB triplet renders differently on each. The value is correct; the rendering depends on the screen.
It can. Coated and uncoated versions of a Pantone number have different appearances and may carry different published screen values, so include the suffix from your brand guide.
Use the RGB to Pantone or Hex to Pantone tools, which find the nearest spot colour to a given screen value.
Pass it as a string to whichever colour prop the component expects, for example backgroundColor: 'rgb(0, 112, 220)' in a style object, or background-color: rgb(0, 112, 220) in CSS. You can also convert it to hex with a hex converter and use that instead — they name the same colour.
Need another tool?
Browse the full toolbox or dig into the blog for the engineering behind it.