Dropper Bot
Dropper Bot
Spectral paint recipe solver
About

1 Pick a paint to cross-reference

2 Find matches in

3 Mix it closer optional

Picking a set doesn’t change the matches above — it tells Dropper Bot which single-pigment mixing set you own, so each match card gains “mix it closer” recipes: a one-pigment nudge that pushes that bottle toward your target, or a full mix from your set. Leave it on None to just grab the closest bottle.

Mephiston Red
Citadel Base
#9a1115

3 closest substitutes. You might not own the single closest bottle, so the second and third matches give you a fallback you probably already have on the shelf. Each card shows the off-the-shelf bottle, and when you expand it, how to get closer by mixing from the set you picked. Treat the mix predictions as a starting point: pre-mixed paints combine several pigments at strengths the makers don't publish, so the drop counts are estimates.

What is ΔE00?

ΔE2000 measures how different two colours look to the human eye — the lower the number, the closer the match. It's measured in CIELAB, a colour scale built so equal steps look like roughly equal differences, under D65: the agreed standard for “average midday daylight,” so colours are always compared in the same neutral lighting. Zero means identical; about 1 is the smallest difference a trained eye can notice.

< 1.5 close match  ·  < 3.5 good  ·  < 7 approximate  ·  ≥ 7 best reachable

Scores above ~2.5 indicate the target sits at or beyond what this palette can physically mix. The hex values on screen are often more saturated than the actual paint.

ΔE at a glance