As an artist, there are so many things to keep in mind as you create! We know ensuring color will be consistent with what you intend in your designs is top-of-mind for so many in our artist community. To follow up to her post on color variations in digital printing, Why is My Color on My Fabric Different Than My Wallpaper?, Spoonflower Ambassador Danika Herrick returns to the blog to discuss everything you need to know as an artist about how to use hex codes and color charts to make sure your designs print the way you want them to!  Follow along and don’t miss Danika’s video at the end of the post to become a color-matching pro in no time.

Featured design: Custom Egyptian Paisley Anne by danika_herrick. Danika uses a color map to color match.

Danika: If you’ve already read my post on the color variations that can occur in the digital printing process, you’ll know that the process can create some idiosyncrasies when it comes to seeing your work printed on different substrates. The other post details why that happens, which is important background to understand as you create surface designs. 

With this post, I’ll be sharing a couple surefire ways to color correct designs to work across different substrates that I’ve learned after years of tinkering with the process. At the end of this post, there’s a short video I’ve created about my process that goes over altering white points as well as color matching different substrates. 

What are Color Maps?

Some of the color maps Danika uses, which can be purchased at this link.

Color maps (also called color charts) are tools I use every day as a designer. They show several colors along with their hex codes that can be plugged into a design to color/recolor. I have put a collection of color maps together for you at this link, which include color maps that I created for use in my own work, Spoonflower brand color maps, as well as color maps from other Spoonflower community members. You can purchase them on any substrate in several sizes.

How to Color Match with Color Maps

When a color chart is printed on the substrate you plan on using, the color you see is what you get. You can use this chart like you would a paint fan deck.  

Go around your space and match your paint, upholstery, etc., and simply use that hex code to recolor a design. If you are working with a Spoonflower designer who is open to recoloring one of their designs, you can simply send them the hex code.  

How to Color Correct With Color Maps

Let’s say you have ordered two samples of the same design—one on wallpaper and the other on fabric—but the background blues are reading differently on each. To adjust one to be closer to the other, you will need color charts printed on both substrates to compare the two.   

I cover this is in my video below as well, but here are the steps I take to do this:  

Step 1. Decide which sample you like the color of better—let’s say you prefer the brown background on the wallpaper.  

2. Compare that wallpaper sample and match the brown to a hex code on the fabric color chart.  

A color map of different shades of brown is laid next to a piece of dark brown wallpaper. A white arrow has been drawn to the color map rectangle that most closely resembles the brown used for the carpet.
Using the color map to find a color to match my design Chocolate Elsie’s Garden by printed on Traditional Non-Pasted Pebble wallpaper.

Step 3. Replace the original brown hex code in the design file with the new hex code you matched on the fabric in Step 2. 

Step 4. Save this file and upload as a new design to Spoonflower. 

Step 5. Order a new fabric swatch as a final fail-safe to confirm that the fabric will print with a brown that is much closer to the original wallpaper. 

Want to learn even more about color optimization?

Visit our Help Center to learn even more tips about how to color-correct your designs like a pro.
Nerd Out on Color

How to Adjust White Points

Four color maps of off-white and pastel shades are folded and displayed partially on top of each other. They each feature small rectangles of different colors showing what each color hex code prints like on different Spoonflower fabrics.
Some of Danika’s off-white and pastel color maps, which can be purchased at this link.

Since the white of the ground color of a substrate is the whitest it will ever be you may need to push your design towards the creamier background. To see the white points of all the substrates Spoonflower offers you can purchase a sample pack. With a sample pack you can clearly compare the background whites against each other and immediately start to decide which fabrics and papers might work better for you.  

Some substrates like Grasscloth wallpaper are much creamier than their counterparts, and if you have your heart set on grasscloth you might consider making the backgrounds of neighboring fabrics a little creamier if the contrast bothers you.  

I have created off-white and pastel color charts that can be used to manage this task, and I also demonstrate this in the video.  For more about viewing designs in daylight vs. incandescent light, see this earlier post.

In this video, Spoonflower artist Danika takes you through the basics of using hex codes from a color map to improve your designs.