A client forwards the guidelines to a printer, a web developer and a sign maker, and each looks for a different number next to the same orange. If the palette gives only a HEX, the printer converts it with whatever profile is installed, the sign maker guesses a paint, and three suppliers produce three oranges. This guide lists the colour codes a palette must state, explains why print values cannot be calculated from screen ones, and shows how to set them up in Illustrator and write them down.
The colour codes a brand palette needs
| Code | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| HEX | Websites, apps, Figma, Canva, any colour field on screen | #E8552B |
| RGB | Screen documents, slides, video, office software | 232, 85, 43 |
| CMYK | Four-colour print: brochures, cards, packaging printed in process | 0, 76, 96, 0 on uncoated paper (FOGRA29) |
| Pantone | Spot colour: a premixed ink for stationery, packaging, merchandise, screen printing | A number with C or U, such as Pantone 286 C |
| RAL | Paint, powder coating, signage, shopfitting | Four digits, such as RAL 9005 (Jet black) |
Every brand needs HEX, RGB and CMYK; Pantone as soon as something is printed with spot inks; RAL when the brand is painted on a wall, a vehicle or a sign. The first three rows describe the same orange. The last two show the notation only: spot inks and paints are chosen by eye from a physical guide, not computed from a HEX.
HEX and RGB: one colour, two notations
A HEX code is the RGB value written in base 16: E8 is 232, 55 is 85 and 2B is 43, so #E8552B and 232, 85, 43 are the same colour. State both: web and design tools take a HEX, office software often asks for three numbers, and retyping one into the other breeds typos. Both describe sRGB, the colour space the web assumes and Illustrator's default RGB working space.
CMYK: the number depends on the paper
CMYK values are not a colour but instructions to a press: how much of each ink to lay down. Uncoated stock absorbs more ink and spreads each dot, so the same four numbers look different on coated and uncoated paper, and the same target colour needs different numbers on each. An ICC profile describes one printing condition, and a conversion from RGB only means something against one of them.
Three colours of an example palette, converted from sRGB with two profiles that ship with Illustrator (relative colorimetric, black point compensation):
| Colour | Coated FOGRA39 | Uncoated FOGRA29 |
|---|---|---|
| Ember #E8552B | 1, 78, 87, 0 | 0, 76, 96, 0 |
| Harbour #1F4E79 | 93, 67, 29, 14 | 97, 73, 25, 10 |
| Ink #1A1A1A | 74, 67, 62, 83 | 84, 76, 56, 71 |
Illustrator's own engine may differ by a point or two; what matters is the gap between the columns.
Why a conversion is a starting point, not an answer
A conversion imitates the screen colour as closely as one press allows, without knowing how the colour will be used. In the Ink row, a near black meant for text becomes four inks totalling 286 per cent, which shows every misregistration on small type; text black prints as 0, 0, 0, 100. The 1 per cent of cyan in the coated orange is noise. Vivid oranges, greens and blues often sit outside the CMYK gamut, so the converted value comes out duller and needs a human decision.
Ask the printer which profile they print to: in Europe often PSO Coated v3 (FOGRA51) or PSO Uncoated v3 (FOGRA52), free from the European Color Initiative; in North America, GRACoL 2013 or SWOP. Set it as the CMYK working space in Edit > Color Settings, convert, clean the values and check a proof on the real paper. Then write two CMYK values in the guidelines, coated and uncoated, each with its profile named.
Pantone: spot inks, C and U
The Pantone Matching System numbers premixed inks. A spot colour is printed with its own plate and ink instead of being built from four process inks, so it matches far more closely from one print run to the next. Merchandise, screen printing and packaging suppliers ask for it.
Each reference carries a suffix: C for coated paper, U for uncoated. Pantone 286 C and 286 U are the same ink; the U swatch looks duller because uncoated paper drinks the ink. List both if the brand prints on both; a different U number that sits closer to the coated look is fine if it is written down. Pick the reference by eye from a printed Pantone guide, in good light, next to the approved colour, not from an online HEX to Pantone converter: many Pantone colours have no exact CMYK or sRGB equivalent.
Pantone in Adobe apps since 2022
From 2022, Adobe stopped shipping most Pantone colour books with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, and the October 2023 release of Illustrator removed the last three (Pantone+ CMYK Coated, CMYK Uncoated and Metallic Coated). Picking Pantone colours inside Illustrator now requires the Pantone Connect extension from Adobe Exchange and a paid Pantone Connect licence. Documents that already contain Pantone swatches keep them, and other books such as HKS, TOYO, DIC and TRUMATCH still ship with Illustrator.
RAL for paint and signage
Sign makers, powder coaters and shopfitters work from RAL. RAL Classic codes have four digits, the first giving the colour family (5 for blues, 9 for whites and blacks), and a name: RAL 9005 is Jet black. Pick the code from a physical fan deck next to a print of the brand colour. Vinyl films come in each maker's own range, so let the sign maker propose the nearest one.
Set up named swatches in Illustrator
The guidelines are only as consistent as the file behind them: an unnamed swatch called R=232 G=85 B=43, next to a slightly different orange sampled from a PNG, makes them drift.
Make every brand colour a named global swatch
In the Swatches panel, click New Swatch, give the colour its brand name ("Ember", not "Orange 2"), choose the colour mode and tick Global. A global swatch is linked to every object and tint painted with it, so editing it updates the whole file; it shows a small white triangle in the corner of its thumbnail. Reapply it to any artwork painted before it became global. For a Pantone reference, set Color Type to Spot Color.
Group the palette
Select the brand swatches and click New Color Group at the bottom of the panel: one group per role, Primary, Secondary and Neutral. Then use Select All Unused in the panel menu and delete the rest, so the file holds the palette and nothing else. Save Swatch Library as ASE, in the same menu, hands the named swatches to InDesign or Photoshop.
Decide what each swatch is defined in
A swatch stores one set of values in one colour mode. In an RGB master file, define the brand swatches from the approved HEX, keep the proofed print values in a CMYK copy under the same names, and write those into the guidelines so nobody converts them again.
Write the palette in the guidelines
The colour page is the one people copy from, so give each colour a block that answers every supplier: name, role, HEX, RGB, CMYK coated and uncoated with the profile, and Pantone C and U and RAL where used. The freelancer's guide to brand guidelines counts this page among the essentials, and the file guide in how to deliver a logo to a client sends merchandise orders back to it.
Primary, secondary, neutral, and how much of each
List the primary first, then the secondary colours, then the neutrals, and show the proportions as a bar or a simple split: neutrals for most surfaces, the primary as the accent, the secondary for charts. Without proportions, a client with an orange logo makes an orange website.
Contrast for text on colour
State which text colours are allowed on which backgrounds, using the WCAG 2 ratios. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 against its background. Large text, at least 18 pt or 14 pt bold (about 24 px, or 18.7 px bold), needs 3:1, as do icons and the parts of charts and controls people need to see. The stricter AAA level asks for 7:1 and 4.5:1. Logos are exempt, and a ratio just under the threshold fails: 4.4:1 is not 4.5:1.
| Text on background | Ratio | Allowed for |
|---|---|---|
| Ink on Paper (#F4F1EC) | 15.4:1 | All text |
| White on Harbour | 8.7:1 | All text |
| Ink on Ember | 4.8:1 | All text |
| White on Ember | 3.6:1 | Large text and icons only |
| Ember on Paper | 3.2:1 | Large text and icons only |
| Ember on Harbour | 2.4:1 | Not for text |
White on the brand orange is the classic surprise: it looks bold and fails for body text.
Common mistakes
- CMYK converted, never proofed. A converted value is an estimate for one press.
- Pantone from a converter website. It returns the nearest number in a table, not the ink that looks right.
- Only the C reference. Letterheads print on uncoated stock; give the printer a U.
- Four-colour black for text. Small type in four inks misregisters. Keep 100 K.
- Codes that only live in a PDF. Copied values pick up stray line breaks; see brand guidelines PDF vs online.
Questions
What are brand color codes?
The values that reproduce a brand colour in each medium: HEX and RGB for screens, CMYK for four-colour print, a Pantone reference for spot ink and a RAL code for paint and signage. A complete palette states every one the brand uses.
How do I find the color codes of a logo?
In Illustrator, select the shape and read the Color panel. From a PNG or a website, an eyedropper gives an approximate sRGB HEX. CMYK and Pantone values cannot be read from a screen image; ask for the guidelines or the original file.
How do I convert HEX to CMYK?
Set the printer's profile as the CMYK working space in Edit > Color Settings, then switch the swatch's colour mode from RGB to CMYK in Swatch Options. Clean the result and proof it on the actual paper.
Do I need a subscription to use Pantone colours in Illustrator?
To pick from Pantone books inside Illustrator, yes: since the October 2023 release that goes through the Pantone Connect extension and a paid licence. Files that already contain Pantone swatches still open with them.
How Anchr Tools handles the palette
Anchr Guide reads up to six colours from the named swatches of the open Illustrator file and writes HEX, RGB and CMYK for each into the brand guidelines; Folio, the 12-page template, has a colour palette page and a logo on colour page. Like any converted value, the CMYK is a starting point: the PDF is editable, so put in the values you proofed and add the Pantone and RAL references, since Anchr Tools does not produce Pantone values.
Anchr Portal publishes the same colours on the brand's hosted page with click-to-copy HEX, RGB and CMYK, so nobody retypes a HEX. Both tools are in every plan: Per brand at 49 USD a year with a 7 day trial, or Studio at 199 USD a year with a 14 day trial; see pricing.