Pantone to HKS Converter
Search any Pantone spot colour and get the closest HKS numbers, ranked by ΔE*00. HKS is the spot-ink standard of German-language offset printing and sits alongside Pantone in most European print specifications.
Both systems are spot inks for offset printing, so matches here are usually tighter than paint-standard conversions.
Closest HKS matches
Ranked by ΔE*00HKS 17
HKS 18
HKS 19
HKS 16
HKS 15
What is HKS?
HKS is a spot-colour ink system created in Germany in 1976 and named after its three founding ink manufacturers — Hostmann-Steinberg, Kast + Ehinger and H. Schmincke & Co. It was built to do for German-language offset printing exactly what Pantone does elsewhere: give designers, printers and ink suppliers one agreed reference so a brand colour reproduces identically regardless of who runs the job.
The system is organised around 88 base colours, numbered HKS 1 through HKS 88, published across four decks matched to different paper types. HKS K is for gloss art paper, HKS N for natural and uncoated stock, HKS E for continuous stationery, and HKS Z for newsprint. A specification is therefore always written with its deck letter — HKS 43 K and HKS 43 N are the same ink formulation printed on very different surfaces, and they do not look the same.
Alongside the 88 base colours, HKS publishes several thousand tonal variations in its 3000-series fan decks, which extend the base inks into tints and shades. In practice most brand work references a base number, and this converter matches against the 88 base colours because they are the ones that appear in specifications and that ink suppliers stock as standard.
HKS remains genuinely dominant in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where a printer is as likely to stock HKS inks as Pantone ones, and public-sector and institutional identities frequently specify HKS exclusively. Elsewhere in Europe it appears as a secondary reference alongside Pantone. Because both systems are pre-mixed offset inks made for coated and uncoated paper, converting between them generally produces closer matches than converting Pantone to a coating standard such as RAL.
Pantone vs HKS: how they differ
| Pantone (PMS) | HKS | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Pantone Inc., United States, 1963 | Germany, 1976 — Hostmann-Steinberg, Kast + Ehinger, H. Schmincke |
| Both are | Pre-mixed spot inks for offset printing | Pre-mixed spot inks for offset printing |
| Colour count | 1,341 in the coated deck, over 3,200 in total | 88 base colours, plus several thousand tonal variations |
| Deck structure | C for coated, U for uncoated, plus metallic and neon decks | K gloss art, N natural/uncoated, E stationery, Z newsprint |
| Code format | Number plus suffix — “Pantone 186 C” | Number plus deck letter — “HKS 43 K” |
| Geography | Global standard | Dominant in Germany, Austria and Switzerland |
| Typical specification | Brand guidelines worldwide | German-language brand books, public-sector identities |
| Match quality | Reference system for this conversion | Usually a close match — both are offset inks on paper |
Worked Pantone → HKS conversions
Left swatch is the Pantone colour, right swatch is the closest HKS equivalent the tool returns. ΔE*00 below 2 is a commercial match; above 5 the two colours read as visibly different.
Who converts Pantone to HKS?
Pantone-to-HKS conversion is routine work for anyone printing in the German-speaking market.
- Printing in Germany, Austria or Switzerland — A local printer may stock HKS inks rather than Pantone. Supplying the nearest HKS number avoids a custom ink mix and its associated cost and lead time.
- German public-sector and institutional work — Government departments, universities and public broadcasters in the DACH region frequently specify HKS exclusively in their corporate design manuals.
- Localising an international brand book — Global brand guidelines are written in Pantone. Adding HKS equivalents lets regional print suppliers work from the manual without querying every job.
- Packaging production in central Europe — Packaging converters in the region often run HKS as their standard spot-ink library, so an HKS reference speeds up prepress approval.
- Cost control on two-colour print — Where a printer already has an HKS ink on press, matching to it rather than ordering a Pantone mix can remove a washup and an ink charge from the job.
- Reconciling legacy specifications — Older German brand assets exist only as HKS numbers. Converting in either direction lets a modern, Pantone-based system absorb them without losing the original colour.
How to use this Pantone to HKS converter
Matching runs live in your browser — nothing is uploaded and there is no button to press.
- Enter a Pantone number or name in the search box and select the colour from the suggestions.
- Read the five closest HKS base numbers, ordered by ΔE*00 colour difference.
- Add the correct deck letter to whichever number you choose — K for gloss art paper, N for natural or uncoated stock, E for continuous stationery, Z for newsprint.
- Check the ΔE badge: under 2 is a commercial match, 2–5 is visible side by side, above 5 the colours read as different.
- Copy the HKS number and confirm it against a physical HKS fan deck for the paper type you are printing on.
Accuracy — read before you specify a colour
HKS and Pantone are separate, competing ink systems with no official cross-reference between them. Both are pre-mixed offset inks, which makes this conversion more reliable than matching Pantone to a coating standard, but the ink formulations are genuinely different and the two ranges do not cover identical colour space. HKS also has far fewer base colours than Pantone, so some Pantone colours have no close HKS counterpart.
Results are ranked by ΔE*00 (CIEDE2000), the difference metric used in print quality control. Below 1 is imperceptible, 1–2 is a commercial match, 2–5 shows side by side, above 5 reads as a different colour. Remember that the deck letter matters as much as the number here: the same HKS ink on gloss art paper (K) and on uncoated stock (N) can differ by more than the ΔE between two adjacent HKS numbers.
In short: conversion values on this page are approximate, because the two systems use different colourants and cover different gamuts. Verify against the official physical colour standard before committing to production, tooling or a signed-off brand spec.