Can you match a specific Pantone colour?
Yes, in three different ways depending on what is being coloured. Screen-print inks are mixed to the Pantone and shown on a strike-off. Embroidery thread is matched to the closest shade from several hundred, shown on a stitch-out. The garment itself is matched with a lab dip — a swatch of the real fabric dyed to your reference — approved before bulk dyeing; that is a custom dye lot, which needs 300 pieces of the colour. Below 300 we match as closely as possible from stock colours and send the swatch.
Send the reference, not the name
'Navy' covers a hundred shades; 19-4024 TCX covers one. For fabric, the textile standard is Pantone TCX — colours defined on dyed cotton swatches, not paper — and if you only have a C or U reference from a print designer we convert it and confirm on the lab dip. If you have no Pantone at all, send the closest thing you have: a swatch, a garment, a photograph in daylight. We match to it and show you before bulk.
Why screens lie
A colour that glows on a backlit monitor sits differently on cloth, and that difference is not a fault — it is physics. Which is why colour is approved on a physical lab dip, strike-off or stitch-out rather than a screenshot, and why we photograph samples in daylight. For colour-critical work, have the sample in hand.
How each element is matched
| Element | How it is matched | Approved on |
|---|---|---|
| Garment colour, custom dye lot | Dyed to Pantone TCX at the mill; 300-piece minimum | Lab dip before bulk dyeing |
| Garment colour, under 300 pieces | Closest stock colour | Swatch or blank sample |
| Screen-print ink | Mixed to Pantone | Strike-off |
| DTF, DTG, sublimation | Printed from the file's colour values; close, not exact | Printed sample |
| Embroidery thread | Closest shade from the thread range | Stitch-out |
| Woven label | Closest thread shade | Label proof |
Related questions
- Is there a minimum for a custom colour?
- 300 pieces of that colour — the mill's dye lot. Below that, stock colours.
- What does a lab dip cost?
- Around $20–30 per colour as a one-off; the recipe is kept for reorders.
- Can digital prints match a Pantone exactly?
- Closely. DTF, DTG and sublimation print from the file's colour values and can drift a step; a screen-print ink mixed to Pantone is exact.
- Will the reorder match?
- Custom dye lots are re-dyed to the kept recipe and checked against the kept lab dip.
Where to go next
More questions on samples and approval
Will I see the design before it is made?
Always. A free digital mockup goes to you on the actual garment at the actual print size, for approval in writing, before anything is…
What happens if I do not approve the sample?
We remake it with the changes you ask for. The sample exists precisely to be changed: it is the last point in the process where a…
Ask us the rest
Send the garment, the quantity and any date you are working to. A real price and a mockup come back, usually within a working day.
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