Paint Color Mixing Calculator
Pigment proportions for target hue using color theory.
About this calculator
This calculator works in RYB space — the red/yellow/blue color wheel painters actually mix in, not the RGB wheel your screen uses — because subtractive pigment mixing behaves differently from additive light mixing. It first locates your target hue on that wheel between the two nearest primaries (Red-Yellow, Yellow-Blue, or Blue-Red) and splits the ratio between them proportionally to how close the hue sits to each one. Saturation then sets how much of the mix is pure chromatic pigment versus neutral: lower saturation pulls the color toward gray. Value (lightness) decides whether you're tinting toward white or shading toward black — above 50% it blends in white, below 50% it blends in black, with the pure hue sitting at exactly the midpoint.
A tinting-strength input compensates for the fact that titanium white is roughly twice as opaque and color-dominant as zinc white per unit volume, so the same nominal "value" setting calls for noticeably less titanium than zinc to avoid overwhelming the mix. Everything gets normalized to your requested total volume and also expressed as simple whole-number-ish mixing parts (like "3 parts yellow, 1 part white") for easier measuring with a syringe or dropper. Keep in mind this is a simplified model, not a physical pigment-mixing simulation: real paints have their own undertones, opacity, and staining behavior that shift results from what pure geometric color theory predicts, so treat the output as a strong starting ratio to fine-tune by eye rather than an exact recipe.
Inputs
Results
Primary Color A Volume
7.5 ml
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter Target Hue Angle, Saturation, and Value (Lightness).
- Set Total Volume Needed and White Tinting Strength.
- Review the Primary Color A Volume (ml) result.
- Use Primary Color B Volume (ml) and White Volume (ml) to inform your decision.
How the result changes with Total Volume Needed
| Total Volume Needed | Primary Color A Volume |
|---|---|
| 5 | 3.75 ml |
| 7.5 | 5.63 ml |
| 15 | 11.25 ml |
| 25 | 18.75 ml |
What each input means
- Target Hue Angle
- Color wheel angle: 0°=Red, 60°=Orange, 120°=Yellow, 180°=Green, 240°=Blue, 300°=Purple.
- Saturation
- Color purity: 0% = neutral gray, 100% = full intensity.
- Value (Lightness)
- Lightness: 0% = black shade, 50% = pure hue, 100% = white tint.
- Total Volume Needed
- Total volume of mixed paint needed in milliliters.
- White Tinting Strength
- Tinting strength of your white: 1 = zinc white, 2 = titanium white.
What each result means
- Primary Color A Volume
- Volume of the first primary color to use.
- Primary Color B Volume
- Volume of the second primary color to use.
- White Volume
- Volume of white paint to add.
- Black Volume
- Volume of black paint to add.
- Parts Primary A
- Mixing ratio: parts of the first primary.
- Parts Primary B
- Mixing ratio: parts of the second primary.
- Parts White
- Mixing ratio: parts of white.
- Parts Black
- Mixing ratio: parts of black.
- Hue Angle
- Target hue angle on the color wheel.
How this is calculated
Worked example, using the default values
- Identify Input Parameters4 parametersTarget Hue Angle = 30, Saturation = 80, Value (Lightness) = 50, Total Volume Needed = 10 = 5 input(s) provided
- Calculate Primary Color A VolumePrimary Color A Volume = totalVol * colorPartNorm * ratioA7.5 = 7.5
- Calculate Primary Color B VolumePrimary Color B Volume = totalVol * colorPartNorm * ratioB2.5 = 2.5
- Calculate White VolumeWhite Volume = totalVol * whitePartNorm0 = 0
Engine last updated . Checked against 3 independently-derived tests — how we verify calculators. Built by Paul Gunder, a software engineer, not a licensed financial, medical, or legal professional.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the calculator use RYB (red/yellow/blue) instead of RGB?
Paint mixes subtractively — combining pigments removes wavelengths rather than adding light — so the traditional artist's color wheel (Red at 0°, Yellow at 120°, Blue at 240°) predicts mixing results better than the RGB wheel screens use. The calculator locates your target hue between the two nearest RYB primaries and blends them in proportion to how close the hue sits to each one.
Why do I need to enter a white tinting strength instead of just adding white?
Titanium white is roughly twice as opaque and color-dominant per unit volume as zinc white, so the same tint level needs less titanium than zinc to hit the same lightness. The calculator divides the raw white fraction by your White Tinting Strength value (1 = zinc-like, 2 = titanium-like, up to 3) before normalizing, so a stronger white shows up in a smaller volume.
What do the parts numbers mean versus the ml volumes?
The ml volumes (Primary Color A/B, White, Black) are scaled to your requested total volume, while the parts values normalize those same four volumes to the smallest non-zero component, rounded to one decimal. That gives you a simple ratio like 3 parts yellow to 1 part white that you can scale to any batch size with a syringe or dropper, without needing an exact total volume.
Why does 50% Value with 100% Saturation add no white or black at all?
Value = 50% sits exactly at the calculator's dividing line between tinting (white) and shading (black), so both fractions come out to zero and you get pure chromatic pigment. Moving Value above 50 blends in white, below 50 blends in black, and the further from 50 you go, the larger that fraction becomes.
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