Measure Delta E between two colors

Measure how far apart two colors are in a selected color space.

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ToolColor Distance
Input
Output
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How it works

Two colors are converted into a selected color space and the distance between their coordinates is calculated, commonly with Euclidean distance in RGB or a perceptual space such as CIELAB. The metric determines what close means, so distances from different spaces are not comparable.

  • RGB distance is cheap; perceptual spaces better approximate visible differences.

Worked example

Compare Red and Blue
Calculate the perceptual distance between red and blue
Input
											Input1: #FF0000
Input2: #0000FF
Output
												Original: Color 1: #FF0000
Modified: Color 2: #0000FF

Delta E: 176.33
Perception: Very different

When to use this

Palette cleanup, image clustering, and design-token audits measure color similarity.

Edge cases

  • Raw RGB distance is affected by gamma encoding.
  • Hue wraparound makes naïve angular distance wrong in cylindrical spaces.
  • Different white points change Lab-like coordinates.

References