Color Mixer – Paint Mixing & Recipe Calculator
Mix paints like real pigments, or pick any target colour and get the exact recipe — which paints to mix and in what parts — from CMYK, primaries or your own tubes.
- Free forever
- Instant results
- Private — runs in your browser
Target colour
Paints you have
Process inks — great for printing, digital-to-paint and acrylic primaries sets.
Target #556B2F · Your mix #635D2B
Colour difference ΔE 4.4
Your recipe3 : 1
- 3Yellow · 3 parts78%
78 g for a 100 g batch
- 1Black · 1 part22%
22 g for a 100 g batch
- Start with the Yellow and add the other colour a little at a time — it’s much easier to darken a mix than to lighten it.
- Mix a small test batch and let it dry first — acrylics usually dry slightly darker, gouache slightly lighter.
Other ways to mix it
How to use the Color Mixer – Paint Mixing & Recipe calculator
Find a paint recipe: choose a target colour — type a hex code, use the picker, pick from your screen, or tap a colour in a photo. Then tick the paints you actually own. The calculator searches every combination and shows the closest mix as simple parts (e.g. 3 : 2 : 1), percentages and grams for your batch size.
Mix colours: add paints and set how many parts of each. The paint pot shows the result as real pigments would mix, plus lighter tints and darker shades. Switch to Light or Digital to see why screen colour mixing gives different answers.
Formula
Paint mixes subtractively: each pigment absorbs part of the light, wavelength by wavelength. Each paint colour is first turned into a smooth reflectance spectrum R(λ) over 380–730 nm, then the pigments’ absorbances add up by concentration (Beer–Lambert):
−ln R_mix(λ) = Σ wᵢ · −ln Rᵢ(λ) wᵢ = cᵢ·sᵢ ÷ Σ cⱼ·sⱼ
cᵢ is the share of each paint and sᵢ its tinting strength — dark, near-neutral pigments like black are several times stronger than ordinary colours, so a little goes a long way. The mixed spectrum is converted back to sRGB with the CIE 1931 colour-matching functions. Recipe accuracy is measured as ΔE in the perceptual OKLab colour space (about 2 is the smallest difference most people can see).
Frequently asked questions
Why does blue and yellow make green in paint but grey on a screen?
Screens add light together, so averaging blue and yellow RGB values gives a dull grey. Paint works the other way: each pigment absorbs (subtracts) some wavelengths. Blue paint absorbs reds and yellows, yellow paint absorbs blues, and the only light both reflect is green. This calculator models that physics — pigment absorption across the visible spectrum — instead of averaging RGB.
How do I find out which paints to mix to get a specific colour?
Open “Find a paint recipe”, enter or pick your target colour, and tick the paints you have. The calculator tests every combination of up to 4 paints and shows the closest mix as parts, percentages and grams, with a match rating and alternative recipes.
How accurate are the paint recipes?
The recipes are a strong starting point, typically within a barely noticeable difference when the colour is reachable with your paints. Real pigments vary by brand, and some are much stronger than others (for example phthalo blue), so always mix a small test batch, add strong or dark colours gradually, and let a swatch dry before mixing a large amount.
Can I use my own paint colours?
Yes. Choose “My paints” and add each tube with its name and colour (use the photo picker on a painted swatch for the best accuracy). Your paints are saved on your device and are never uploaded.
What colours make olive green?
Olive green is yellow darkened with a little black or a little blue. With process colours, roughly 3–4 parts yellow to 1 part black gets close; with artist paints, yellow ochre with phthalo green or a little blue gives a richer olive.
How do I make a colour lighter or darker without changing it?
Adding white makes a tint (lighter, softer) and adding black makes a shade (darker). The tints and shades strip shows exactly how your mix changes with each. Note that white and black also shift the colour slightly — painters often darken with a complementary colour or a dark blue instead of black.
Can I pick a colour from a photo?
Yes. Click “From photo”, choose an image and tap the exact spot you want to match — the calculator averages a few pixels to avoid noise. The image is processed in your browser and never leaves your device. In Chrome and Edge you can also pick any colour on your screen with “From screen”.