From ink recipe to screen color
CMYK values describe an ink recipe; HEX describes light on a screen. Going from recipe to light needs a model of how the inks behave on paper, which is what an ICC press profile encodes. This tool runs a real color engine (lcms) in your browser: pick the profile that matches the printed piece (coated FOGRA39 is the common European default, GRACoL and SWOP for US workflows), enter the CMYK values, and read the HEX that matches what came off the press.
Common print colors as HEX
| CMYK | Ink | HEX (naïve) |
|---|---|---|
| 0, 0, 0, 100 | Process black | #000000 |
| 100, 0, 0, 0 | Process cyan | #00FFFF |
| 0, 100, 0, 0 | Process magenta | #FF00FF |
| 0, 0, 100, 0 | Process yellow | #FFFF00 |
| 60, 40, 40, 100 | Cool rich black | #1A1B25 |
The naïve HEX overshoots what a press produces. The ICC preview in the converter shows the printable version of the same recipe.
Matching brand colors across media
The reliable workflow runs in one direction: define brand colors in a device-independent way (or as HEX plus a chosen press profile), then derive the CMYK per print process. If all you have is legacy CMYK from an old style guide, this converter recovers a faithful screen equivalent, pick the profile the original printer used, or coated ISO if unknown.
