Pantone to Benjamin Moore Converter
Enter a HEX code or pick a Pantone color to find the closest Benjamin Moore paint match. Matching uses Delta E 2000 against a curated 40-color Benjamin Moore reference set. Results are visual approximations for design exploration only — verify with a physical paint chip before ordering.
What is Pantone to Benjamin Moore conversion?
Pantone and Benjamin Moore are fundamentally different color systems. Pantone is a print and graphic-arts standard: its colors are printing inks applied to paper, packaging, textiles, and plastics. Benjamin Moore is an architectural paint brand: its colors are pre-mixed pigments applied to walls, trim, and exteriors. No official cross-reference exists between them, because the two systems were never designed to be interchangeable.
What this converter does is find the visually closest Benjamin Moore color to a given Pantone reference, using Delta E 2000 (the CIE standard for perceptual color difference). That gives a good starting point for design exploration — useful when a brand identity built around Pantone colors needs to extend into painted spaces — but a paint chip viewed under real lighting always trumps any digital approximation.
How the conversion works
- Convert the Pantone HEX to RGB, then to CIELAB (a perceptual color space).
- Compute Delta E 2000 between the Pantone LAB and each Benjamin Moore color's LAB (40 colors in the reference set).
- Rank by lowest Delta E — lower means closer, with values under ~2 often indistinguishable and values over ~5 clearly different.
Delta E 2000 weights lightness, chroma, and hue components according to human visual sensitivity. It adjusts for regional non-uniformities in color space so a Delta E 3 in the blues is genuinely comparable to a Delta E 3 in the yellows. The older Delta E 1976 metric does not have this property.
Accuracy and limitations
- Different substrates. Pantone inks (coated and uncoated) reflect light very differently from Benjamin Moore paint (matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss) — even a "perfect" Delta E 0 match on screen will look different in physical reality.
- Limited reference set. Our Benjamin Moore reference includes 40 widely-used colors, not the full ~3,500-color Benjamin Moore library. If your target falls outside the reference set, the "closest" match may be visually distant.
- Screen accuracy. Monitor calibration and ambient light affect what you see. Verify against physical chips.
Use cases
- Brand identity extended to interiors. A brand system designed in Pantone extended to physical space via Benjamin Moore paint.
- Editorial and film set design. Matching a photographic set to printed materials.
- Packaging mockups. Physical mockups of printed packaging shown against painted backdrops.
- Client presentation. Giving clients a familiar paint reference rather than an abstract Pantone code.
Common mistakes
- Ordering paint from a screen preview without physical verification.
- Treating Delta E < 3 as "identical" — it means "close enough that most people won't notice side-by-side".
- Forgetting Benjamin Moore's multiple sheens (matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss) shift the perceived color under directional light.
- Using a coated Pantone reference when the design is specified for uncoated — the two are meaningfully different.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is Pantone to Benjamin Moore matching?
The conversion is a visual approximation, not an official mapping. Benjamin Moore paint and Pantone inks are produced with different pigments on different substrates, so no two codes are perfectly identical. We use Delta E 2000 to find the closest visual match in our 40-color Benjamin Moore reference set. Always verify with a physical paint chip before ordering.
What is the closest Benjamin Moore to Pantone 286 C?
Pantone 286 C is a deep royal blue. In our reference set, the closest Benjamin Moore matches are typically HC-154 Hale Navy (#3B4656), HC-155 Newburyport Blue (#3C4A5C), and 2137-50 Naval (#3B4C5E), all in the Delta E 5–8 range. None is an exact match — 286 C is slightly more saturated — but Hale Navy is the most commonly cited visual approximation for design work.
Can I order paint based on this tool?
No. This is a design reference tool, not an ordering specification. To order paint, take the Benjamin Moore code to a Benjamin Moore retailer and request a physical sample or chip — the paint mixed at the store will be a much more precise match than anything visible on screen. Always verify the color under the actual lighting conditions where it will be used.
Why do Benjamin Moore matches look different from Sherwin-Williams matches?
Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore have different pigment formulations, different reference libraries, and different naming conventions. The same Pantone color may have a closer analog in one brand than the other, depending on the hue region — some families (whites, navies) tend to match well in both, while others (saturated oranges, vivid purples) may only have a close match in one.
Are Benjamin Moore color codes trademarked?
Benjamin Moore color names and codes are trademarks of Benjamin Moore & Co. This page is not affiliated with Benjamin Moore. The color values shown are widely published approximations and are used here for reference and comparison only.