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About this tool
Convert web hex colours to CMYK percentages and check total ink coverage against common press limits.
Hex To CMYK Converter turns a web hex value into cyan, magenta, yellow and black plate percentages and adds up the total ink coverage. It uses the standard arithmetic conversion — K = 1 − max(R, G, B) scaled to 0-1, then C, M and Y taken as the shortfall of each channel below that maximum — and compares the C+M+Y+K sum against published press limits such as 320% for GRACoL coated sheetfed and 240% for newsprint. Aimed at designers moving a screen palette into a print job and needing a sanity check before artwork goes out.
Open Hex To CMYK Converter on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Paste or upload your source content.
Choose the target format or conversion mode.
Copy or download the converted result.
Total area coverage is summed and compared against a chosen press condition's published limit.
Converting the rounded plates back to RGB shows exactly how much precision whole percentages cost.
3, 4, 6 and 8 digit hex are all accepted, with alpha flagged and excluded from the ink maths.
Split the hex into red, green and blue bytes and divide each by 255. Set K = 1 − max(R, G, B); if K is 1 the colour is black, otherwise C = (1 − R − K) ÷ (1 − K), and M and Y follow the same pattern with green and blue. Multiply each by 100 for percentages.
Total ink coverage, also called TAC or TIC, is the sum of the four plate percentages. Too much ink will not dry, so presses set limits — 320% for GRACoL coated sheetfed, 300% for SWOP web offset and PSO uncoated, and 240% for ISOnewspaper26v4 newsprint.
RGB screens emit light and cover a wider gamut than four process inks reflecting off paper. Bright cyans, oranges and greens simply cannot be reproduced in CMYK, so the printed result shifts. Proof on the actual stock rather than trusting the screen.
It is a mathematical conversion with no ICC profile, GCR or dot-gain compensation, so treat it as a starting value. For a colour-critical job, convert through the printer's supplied profile in your design application and ask for a contract proof.
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