Dulux Color Match

Name the Dulux colour in a photo or on a wall

Open the Identify tab and hold the crosshair 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) from the surface, or choose a saved picture in the Photos tab and drag the eyedropper onto the colour. Tap the source on the result card, pick Dulux for the UK range or Dulux Australia, and the app ranks that range's closest colours by match percentage.

The percentages come from CIEDE2000, a standard colour difference formula, but a photo is only as true as the light it was taken in. Interior shots on Pinterest and Instagram are often warmed up or brightened, so sample a few spots on the same wall and treat the result as a shortlist to check against a tester pot.

Dulux UK and Dulux Australia are different ranges

The two colour books share a brand name, not a palette. Natural White (#EEECE5, LRV 84) belongs to the Australian and New Zealand ranges and is not sold as a UK Dulux colour, while Egyptian Cotton (#D8D1C5, LRV 64) is a UK colour with no Australian namesake.

If you fell for Natural White in an Australian home but buy your paint in the UK, the closest UK Dulux colours are Commercial White (ΔE 0.6) and Timeless (ΔE 0.9). Going the other way, Winnow is a close Australian match for Egyptian Cotton (ΔE 0.9). Pick the colour book for the country where you will buy the paint.

Close matches for popular Dulux colours in other brands

Summer Linen (#EAE3D7) is about ΔE 0.6 from both Behr Natural Linen W-F-120 and Sherwin-Williams Ivory Lace SW 7013. Natural Hessian (#E1D5C6) sits very close to Behr Adobe Sand N240-2 (ΔE 0.5) and Sherwin-Williams Natural Linen SW 9109 (ΔE 0.7).

Overtly Olive (#B1AC96) lines up with Sherwin-Williams Svelte Sage SW 6164 (ΔE 0.5), Benjamin Moore Nantucket Gray HC-111 (ΔE 1.0) and Farrow & Ball French Gray No. 18 (ΔE 1.5). Tranquil Dawn (#BDC3B9), Dulux's 2020 Colour of the Year, is close to Sherwin-Williams Comfort Gray SW 6205 and Benjamin Moore Gray Wisp 1570 (both ΔE 1.1). These figures are worked out from published colour values, so treat them as close matches, not identical paints.

Build a Dulux colour scheme from a room you like

Switch the Identify tab to Snap, or open a photo in the Photos tab, and the app pulls out the main colours of the scene as a palette. Sample each one with the eyedropper and set the source to Dulux to see which wall, woodwork and accent shades come closest.

Colours with a shared undertone tend to sit well together: Nutmeg White (#E3DCD4) on the walls with a crisper white such as Timeless on the woodwork, or Natural White with a deeper accent taken from the same photo. Naming paint colours from the camera and eyedropper, the brand catalogues, cross-brand matches and saved palettes are part of Pro, an in-app upgrade; the app itself is free to download.