Colour matching
Get the Colour Right Before You Print
Need to match a specific brand colour, Pantone colour or physical colour reference?
Colour can reproduce differently from screen to fabric, and the fabric itself can influence the final result. For projects where colour accuracy matters, our colour matching service allows us to adjust and test your colour specifically for your chosen fabric before production.
Whether you’re working with brand colours, an interior palette, a fashion collection or a specific physical reference, we’ll work towards the closest achievable match on your selected fabric.
Colour matching: $135 + GST per colour, including a strike-off.
How Colour Matching Works
1. Send Us Your Colour Reference
Provide a Pantone PMS colour reference or send us a physical colour swatch that you’d like us to match.
2. Choose Your Fabric
Colour can reproduce differently across different fabric bases, so colour matching is completed specifically for the fabric you’ll be printing on.
3. We Adjust and Test the Colour
Our team adjusts the colour and prints test variations on your selected fabric to determine the closest achievable match.
4. We Produce a Strike-Off
Your colour matching service includes a strike-off on your chosen fabric, allowing you to review the colour before committing to your production run.
5. Approve and Print
Once you’re happy with the result, the approved colour settings can be used for your production order.
When Should I Use Colour Matching?
Colour matching is particularly useful when colour consistency is important to your project, including:
- Corporate and brand colours
- Fashion and textile collections
- Interior and upholstery fabrics
- Retail displays and visual merchandising
- Events and branded environments
- Repeat printing where maintaining consistent colour is important
If a particular colour is an important part of your design, brand or overall project, we recommend colour matching before proceeding with a larger print run.
Strike-Off or Colour Matching?
Not every project needs colour matching.
Choose a Strike-Off If:
You already have finished artwork and simply want to see how your design, colours and details reproduce on your chosen fabric before placing a larger order.
A strike-off is a small test print of your existing artwork. We print the file as supplied without adjusting individual colours to match a specific reference.
Choose Colour Matching If:
You need a particular colour to reproduce as closely as possible to a Pantone PMS colour, brand colour or physical colour reference.
With colour matching, we actively adjust and test the colour on your selected fabric and provide a strike-off for you to review before production.
Why Does Colour Look Different on Fabric?
Your computer screen produces colour using light, while digital textile printing uses ink applied to a physical fabric.
The fabric itself also plays an important role in the final result. Its base colour, fibre composition, texture and construction can all influence how a printed colour appears.
For example, the same colour may reproduce differently on a natural linen or cotton than it does on a polyester fabric.
This is why we recommend testing when colour accuracy is important rather than relying solely on how a colour appears on screen.
A Note About Pantone and Exact Colour Matching
Pantone colours are a useful reference for communicating colour, but a Pantone colour printed on fabric will not necessarily look identical to the same colour printed on paper or displayed on screen.
Our colour matching service is designed to achieve the closest possible match on your selected fabric.
Because different fabric bases and printing processes affect colour reproduction, an exact match cannot always be guaranteed. Testing on the actual fabric gives you a much more reliable indication of how the final colour will appear.
Colour Matching for Repeat Orders
Once a colour has been matched and approved for a particular fabric, we can retain the colour information for future orders.
For the best consistency, we recommend using the same fabric and approved artwork for repeat production.
As with all textile printing, slight variations can occur between different fabric batches and production runs.
Request Colour Matching
Have a specific colour you need to achieve?
Tell us about your project, your chosen fabric and the colour you’d like us to match. If you’re not sure whether you need colour matching or simply a strike-off, we’re happy to help you decide which option is most suitable.
Quick Enquiry
Custom Fabric Printing in Australia
Digital Fabrics provides custom digital fabric printing for fashion, interiors, events, retail and commercial projects.
Choose from a wide range of natural and polyester fabrics, with colour matching, strike-offs and commercial printing options available.
