Color Lab
Hex to RGB, contrast against black and white, and document print size from pixel dimensions. Runs in your browser — no server call, no tracking.
Color Input
Document Size
Results
Relative Luminance
Contrast here uses the same WCAG relative-luminance formula as the accessibility standard — weighting green highest (0.7152), red next (0.2126), and blue least (0.0722), matching how the human eye actually perceives brightness across the spectrum.
Why 3D Pipelines Care About Contrast
Contrast checks aren't just a UI concern — HUD overlays, subtitle burn-ins, and UI elements composited over a rendered scene all need to stay readable against whatever background the render produces, which can vary shot to shot.
Pixels Are Not a Physical Size
A render's pixel dimensions only become a physical print size once you fix a DPI — the same 1920×1080 frame is 6.4×3.6 inches at 300 DPI but 26.7×15 inches at 72 DPI. Output planning has to happen before, not after, the render.
Working in Linear vs. sRGB
3D renderers compute lighting in linear color space for physically accurate math, then convert to sRGB for display — mixing the two up is one of the most common causes of renders looking "washed out" or "too dark" compared to the preview.
Reference data
Standards and values to use alongside the tool above.
CMYK vs RGB Color Models
| Property | RGB | CMYK |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Additive (light) | Subtractive (ink) |
| Channels | Red, Green, Blue | Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key |
| White | 255, 255, 255 | 0%, 0%, 0%, 0% |
| Black | 0, 0, 0 | 0%, 0%, 0%, 100% |
| Gamut | Wider (screens) | Narrower (print) |
| Use | Web, UI, video, 3D renders | Offset print, packaging, signage |
| Bit depth | 8/16/32 per channel | 8 per channel typical |
| File formats | PNG, JPG, EXR, HDR | TIFF, PDF, AI, PSD |
Pantone & Spot Color Systems
| System | Type | Colors | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pantone Coated (C) | Spot ink | 2,390+ | Glossy/coated paper printing |
| Pantone Uncoated (U) | Spot ink | 2,390+ | Uncoated/matte paper |
| Pantone Metallic | Spot ink | 301 | Metallic finishes on coated stock |
| Pantone Neon | Spot ink | 18 | Fluorescent/neon print |
| Pantone Skin Tone | Reference | 110 | Cosmetics, fashion, photography |
| RAL Classic | Industrial | 215 | Architecture, industry, automotive |
| RAL Design | Industrial | 1,825 | Extended industrial palette |
| NCS (Natural Color) | Perceptual | 1,950 | Architecture, interior design |
| Munsell | Scientific | ~1,600 | Soil science, art, research |
3D Material Color Properties
| Property | Range | Description | PBR Map |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Color / Albedo | sRGB (0–255) | Surface diffuse color without lighting | BaseColor map |
| Metallic | 0.0–1.0 | 0 = dielectric, 1 = conductor | Metalness map |
| Roughness | 0.0–1.0 | 0 = mirror, 1 = fully diffuse | Roughness map |
| Specular / Reflectance | 0.0–1.0 | Fresnel reflectance at normal incidence | Specular map |
| Normal | tangent space | Surface detail without geometry | Normal map (OpenGL/DirectX) |
| Ambient Occlusion | 0.0–1.0 | Soft shadow in crevices | AO map |
| Emission | HDR (0–∞) | Self-illumination color and intensity | Emissive map |
| Opacity / Alpha | 0.0–1.0 | Transparency control | Opacity map |
| IOR (refraction) | 1.0–2.5+ | Glass=1.52, water=1.33, diamond=2.42 | — |
| Subsurface (SSS) | 0.0–1.0 | Light scattering through material | SSS map + radius |
Index of Refraction (IOR) Reference
| Material | IOR | Material | IOR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacuum | 1.000 | Water | 1.333 |
| Air | 1.0003 | Ice | 1.309 |
| Glass (window) | 1.520 | Glass (flint) | 1.620 |
| Crystal | 1.544 | Diamond | 2.417 |
| Acrylic / Plexiglass | 1.490 | Polycarbonate | 1.586 |
| Amber | 1.550 | Ruby / Sapphire | 1.770 |
| Skin (human) | 1.400 | Eye (cornea) | 1.376 |
| Honey | 1.504 | Olive oil | 1.470 |
Color Spaces in 3D Rendering
| Color Space | Gamut | Use | Software |
|---|---|---|---|
| sRGB | Standard | Web, UI, diffuse/albedo textures | All engines (default) |
| Linear sRGB | Standard | Lighting calculations, shader math | All PBR engines internally |
| Rec. 709 | =sRGB gamut | HD video output, broadcast | DaVinci, Nuke, ACES |
| Rec. 2020 | Wide | HDR video, 4K/8K broadcast | DaVinci, Nuke |
| DCI-P3 | Wide | Digital cinema, Apple displays | Cinema cameras, macOS |
| ACES (ACEScg) | Scene-referred | VFX compositing, linear workflow | Maya, Houdini, Nuke, Blender |
| Display P3 | Wide | Apple devices, modern monitors | Safari, macOS apps |
| ACEScct | Log encoding | Color grading with ACES | DaVinci, Nuke |