Give it a paint’s colour value and say what you want changed. It returns several candidates rather than one, describes the difference in words rather than as a percentage, and tells you what each one holds constant so you can see the trade you are making.
As close as possible. Minimises the total perceptual difference. The right question when you want the nearest thing available and are not trying to change anything.
Colourwise-derivedEvery figure above is computed from the value you entered. Relative luminance is not LRV. This is relative luminance computed from a digital colour, not a Light Reflectance Value. LRV is measured off a physical painted surface with an instrument; the two correlate but they are different quantities, and a digital figure cannot substitute for a manufacturer's measurement.
These are Colourwise colours, not manufacturer paints — Colourwise holds no licensed manufacturer catalogue. Use them to work out which direction to go in, then find the nearest paint on the manufacturer’s own colour card.
slightly deeper and the same level of saturation.
Holds nothing in particular — this is the smallest total difference available.
Evidence: strong
noticeably deeper, slightly greyer and shifted slightly warmer.
Holds nothing in particular — this is the smallest total difference available.
Evidence: strong
essentially the same lightness, noticeably more saturated and shifted noticeably cooler.
Holds nothing in particular — this is the smallest total difference available.
Evidence: strong
noticeably lighter, slightly more saturated and shifted slightly cooler.
Holds nothing in particular — this is the smallest total difference available.
Evidence: strong
noticeably deeper, noticeably greyer and shifted noticeably warmer.
Holds nothing in particular — this is the smallest total difference available.
Evidence: strong
A close digital match is not an equivalent paint. Two coatings that measure alike on screen can differ in formulation, sheen, opacity and the way they reflect a particular light source — so they can agree under one lamp and diverge under another. Nothing here is an exact equivalent unless the manufacturer says so themselves.
Colourwise guidanceDerived from the value you entered by the same engine that drives every Colourwise colour profile — not from anything the manufacturer said.
Chroma 8 sits inside the range walls and large surfaces carry without taking over the room.
This is a large-surface colour. At chroma 8 it is restrained enough to cover a lot of ground without tiring, and too quiet to work as an accent.
Warm bulbs. Warm bulbs emit little short-wavelength energy, so there is less for a blue to reflect. At this low chroma there is nothing in reserve, so expect it to go noticeably grey or muddy after dark.
North-facing daylight. Cool light flatters this — it will hold its identity and may read slightly more saturated than in warm light.
Expect a modest step darker than the chart, which is normal and is why sampling a large area matters.
Everything above is arithmetic on a screen colour. The four steps that most often turn a confident decision into a repaint:
A sample card is printed or painted on smooth white stock. Your wall is a different texture over a different base colour, and both change how much light comes back and how even it looks.
Every wall in a room receives different light. A north-facing wall and the wall opposite a window are effectively two different colours of the same paint.
Daylight shifts in colour temperature across the day, and your lamps are a different spectrum again. A colour that agrees with all three is rarer than it sounds.
Colour rendering varies enormously between lamps at the same colour temperature. A low-rendering bulb flattens exactly the reds and deep tones a paint relies on.
Manufacturer and product names are used here only to identify each company's own products. Colourwise is independent: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, approved by or connected to any paint manufacturer, and holds no manufacturer colour data under licence. All trade marks belong to their respective owners.