Which color is the right color?
For those who have ordered custom metal products with color matched enamel fills such as custom enameled pins and metal keychains, to USA Vinyl screen printed keychains with color matched imprints from us, you may be familiar with a common question: Do you have Pantone colors for your artwork?
The Challenge
Each year, we receive thousands of logo files with varying levels of color specification. While some arrive with complete Pantone references, many come as image exports, legacy design files, or artwork where brand colors were approximated rather than formally specified. In these cases, we work with customers to identify the best color matches—sometimes rely on our expertise and approve quickly, other times we collaborate on refinements until the colors are exactly right.
A New Resource
To make the color specification process even more convenient, we've developed our proprietary Pantone-Style Color Match Tool—a free, publicly available resource for anyone who needs to identify print-ready spot colors.
The tool provides color matching recommendations. Users can upload artwork or input HEX/RGB values, and within moments receive the closest corresponding spot color from the full reference palette containing the most popular and widely used Pantone colors (pre-2022 coated solids).
This is an independent, in-house solution. It is not affiliated with or licensed by Pantone Incorporated, and we make this distinction clear to our users. The tool operates on our servers, ensuring consistent results regardless of device or display calibration.
We built this as a resource for the broader design and manufacturing community, not just our customer base. This tool provides a reliable baseline for color specification—whether you're working with us or simply need to identify a spot color for any print or manufacturing project. If you find it useful, we encourage you to bookmark it and share it with colleagues.
Capabilities
The Color Match Tool excels at:
- Rapidly analyzing uploaded artwork to identify the nearest production-ready spot colors
- Accurately matching standard solid colors commonly used in brand identities
- Using CIELAB color values and ΔE color-distance calculations to approximate human color perception with high precision
Limitations
By design, the tool does not attempt to match:
- Specialty finishes including metallics, neons, or fluorescents, whose effects cannot be accurately represented via screen swatches
- Colors outside the standard reference palette
Technical Foundation
Our tool uses carefully calibrated color values that align closely with industry-standard spot colors while maintaining legal independence. The resulting matches are visually indistinguishable to the human eye and provide the accuracy needed for production decision-making.
Our Continued Commitment to Quality
For custom product orders, our final color refinement continues through our established proofing process. Clients review physical samples on actual materials under proper lighting conditions before approving production. This critical step ensures complete satisfaction and remains an integral part of our quality assurance.
The Color Match Tool simply helps you begin from a more accurate starting point—and gives designers everywhere a free resource for color identification.
Access the Tool
The Color Match Tool is now available at:
promotionalkeychains.biz/pages/pantone-match-tool
We encourage you to test the tool with your artwork, share it with your network, and let us know if you find it valuable. We believe useful tools should be freely accessible, and we hope this becomes a go-to resource for designers and manufacturers across industries.
Future Development
This represents our initial release. We welcome feedback regarding additional functionality such as CMYK output options, substrate-specific adjustments, or other enhancements that would serve your needs. Please contact us with your suggestions—we are committed to continuous improvement.
Our goal is straightforward: color accuracy should be achievable without unnecessary complexity. This tool represents a significant step toward that objective.
Thank you for your continued partnership.
