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Measure perceptual color difference between two HEX or RGB colors with Delta-E 2000, Delta-E 94, and Delta-E 76. Tolerance bands and Lab values in your browser.
The known or target color (brand color, ICC swatch, design source).
The color being measured against the reference.
0.48Delta-E 2000
Below 1.0 the difference is not perceptible by the human eye. Treat the colors as identical for visual purposes.
Industry standard (ISO 12647, ICC)
Graphic arts variant (kL=1)
Euclidean Lab distance
Tolerance bands
Based on the conventions used by ISO 12647 print standards, Pantone match guidelines, and the X-Rite ColorChecker documentation. The band that highlights is computed from the Delta-E 2000 value above.
Below 1.0 the difference is not perceptible by the human eye. Treat the colors as identical for visual purposes.
Perceptible only through close side-by-side observation. Suitable as a tight brand or print match tolerance.
Visibly different but the colors still relate. Common acceptance band for everyday graphic arts and screen work.
Two distinct colors that still share more similarity than they oppose. Acceptable only when an exact match is not required.
The colors are more opposite than similar. A match here is failing on every standard print or brand tolerance.
Which formula should I use?
How the math runs
Delta-E Calculator measures the perceptual difference between two colors using the three most-cited Delta-E formulas: CIE Delta-E 2000 (the current industry standard for ISO 12647 print work, ICC color management, Pantone tolerance checks, and brand color compliance), CIE 94 (the graphic arts variant that still appears in legacy color pipelines), and CIE 76 (the original Euclidean Lab distance). Each input accepts HEX (#1d4ed8, #18d, #1d4ed8ff) or rgb()/rgba() values, and a paired color picker is available for visual selection. The conversion path is sRGB to linear sRGB to CIE XYZ (D65 reference white) to CIE L*a*b*, using the IEC 61966-2-1 sRGB matrix and the standard Lab piecewise function. The Delta-E 2000 implementation follows the Sharma, Wu, Dalal 2005 reference paper, which corrects the discontinuity at hue boundary cases in the original CIE 2000 specification. The result is displayed against the conventional tolerance bands used in print and color management work: under 1.0 is not perceptible to the human eye, 1 to 2 is barely perceptible through close observation, 2 to 10 is perceptible at a glance, 10 to 49 is clearly different but related, and 50 or above is more opposite than similar. The output panel shows the Lab coordinates for each color, a side-by-side preview, all three Delta-E values, and a single-click copyable summary you can paste into a QA report, a brand guide audit, or a design review. Useful for verifying that a printed sample matches a brand color within the publisher tolerance, that an exported screen color matches a design source, that a paint or fabric swatch falls inside the spec, that an image conversion pipeline did not shift the source color too far, or that two near-identical brand colors are actually distinguishable. The entire computation runs locally in your browser, so the colors you paste here are not uploaded to a server.
Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.
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