HEX to CMYK Converter
Screen colour to ink percentages.
- Runs in your browser
- Free, no signup
Enter a HEX colour. Any supported format is accepted, and the result updates as you type.
This box works in both directions — change it and the HEX value follows.
All formats
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HEX
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HEX8
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RGB
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RGBA
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HSL
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HSV
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CMYK
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Every value shown comes from one conversion of the colour above, so the HEX, RGB, HSL and CMYK rows always agree with each other.
Your colours are converted in this browser. Nothing is uploaded and nothing is saved.
Convert a screen colour into the four ink percentages a printer thinks in. The arithmetic is straightforward: black is removed from the colour first, and the remaining channels are expressed as the ink needed to subtract them from white.
One thing to be clear about before you send a job to press: this is an arithmetic conversion, not a colour-managed one. There is no ICC profile involved, so the values are a sensible starting point that a prepress operator or a design application will still need to adjust.
How to use this tool
- Paste a hex code into the top box.
- Read the cmyk() percentages beside it.
- Edit either box: the conversion runs in both directions.
- Take the values into your layout application, and treat them as a starting point rather than a final separation.
How the percentages are calculated
Take the highest channel — for #4F8EF7 that is blue at 247 — and treat it as the black component: 1 − 247/255 = 3.1% key. Each remaining channel is then expressed as the ink needed to reduce full white to that value, after the key has been taken out. That gives about 68% cyan, 42.5% magenta, no yellow and 3.1% key.
Why this is not a print-ready separation
A real conversion from RGB to CMYK depends on how the ink, the paper and the press actually behave, which is what an ICC profile describes. Coated, uncoated, newsprint and differing ink sets all give different numbers for the same colour.
Use these values to fill in a brief, to check that a colour is even achievable in ink, or to spot a colour that will shift noticeably in print. A profile-aware conversion in your layout application is the right tool for the final file.
Why black is 0/0/0/100
Pure black sits entirely in the key channel, so the other three are undefined; printing a black area with all four inks is a deliberate press choice, not something the arithmetic can decide. #000000 converts to 0%, 0%, 0%, 100%.
Frequently asked questions
Is this CMYK value print-ready?
Treat it as a starting point. A true conversion depends on the ICC profile for your press, paper and ink, which is applied in your layout application.
Why does rich black not appear?
Because the arithmetic conversion puts all of a black area into the key channel. Rich black — adding cyan, magenta and yellow to it — is a printing decision, not a calculation.
Can I paste cmyk() into the box?
Yes, and it converts back to hex. The arithmetic conversion inverts exactly, so a round trip returns the colour you started with.
Which ICC profile should I use?
Whichever your printer specifies. For coated stock in Europe, Coated FOGRA39 is common; in the United States, SWOP is the usual default. Your print supplier will say.