Isacord to Pantone Converter

How to read an Isacord thread number

Every Isacord color in this data has a four-digit number, and all four digits belong to it. 96 of the 398 codes start with a zero — 0010 is Silky White, 0015 is White, 0020 is Black — so write them out in full on an order or a color sequence sheet; “15” on a work order leaves someone else to fill in the zeros.

The number names the color and nothing else. It does not tell you the thread weight, which is a separate choice on the order, and this page matches color only.

Nor is the number a color scale you can step along. Of the 397 pairs of neighboring numbers in our data, only 25 are within ΔE*00 5 of each other, and the median gap between neighbors is ΔE 17. When a cone runs out, the next number up is not a substitute; judge a replacement by its color.

Some numbers share a color: in the source data, 21 codes fall into 10 groups with an identical color value, such as 0015 White and 0017 Paper White, and every code in a group gets the same Pantone results.

Pantone vs Isacord: how they differ

Worked Isacord to Pantone conversions

Six threads worked through: the three closest coated Pantones for each, the nearest uncoated chip, and what the numbers mean for the job.

Isacord color chart with Pantone equivalents

All 398 Isacord threads in our data, in thread-number order, each with its closest coated and uncoated Pantone — the same ΔE*00 matching as the converter above. 137 threads have a coated Pantone within ΔE 2, and 36 have nothing closer than the Fair band.

Threads marked “same color as …” share one color value in our data and get the same matches. The chart is our own ΔE*00 calculation, not a copy of any manufacturer’s color chart.

Who converts Isacord to Pantone?

This direction comes up when the thread came first: an embroidered logo already exists, and something printed now has to match it. When the Pantone came first, start from the brand guide and work toward a sew-out instead.

• Print to match existing embroidery — A club or company has worn the same embroidered badge for years, and the thread codes on the production sheet are the only color record. Business cards, banners and signage now need a Pantone that sits next to the stitched logo.
• Screen printing beside embroidery — A jacket with an embroidered chest logo and a screen-printed back needs the ink to read as the same color as the thread. The coated Pantone result gives the printer a number to mix to.
• Writing a brand guide from uniforms — Plenty of small businesses had a logo digitized before they ever had a brand guide. Converting the thread codes gives the designer Pantone references to start one.

How to use this Isacord to Pantone converter

Say a customer brings a polo embroidered in Isacord 3900 and 6031 and wants printed banners to match:

1. Type the thread number into the search box — “3900” — or the thread name, and press Enter or pick it from the suggestions. Leading zeros are optional.
2. Leave the results on Coated unless the banner stock is uncoated, then switch to Uncoated.
3. Read the five closest Pantone colors, ranked from the smallest ΔE*00 upward, and note whether the best one is a close match or only the nearest option.
4. If the brand already uses one of the top candidates, prefer it over a marginally closer one.
5. Write both references on the job — “Isacord 3900 / Pantone 6345 C” — so a reprint uses the same pair.
6. Approve the printed proof next to the sewn logo, not next to the cone, in daylight.

Why a thread maps to a range of Pantones, not one

A thread in this data is one sRGB value, but a stitched thread is not one color. Its sheen makes it lighter where stitches run toward the light and darker where they run across it, satin and fill stitches in the same thread read as different shades, and fabric shows through low-density areas. Ink on paper does none of this, so the useful answer to “what Pantone is this thread?” is a short list of close candidates.

Those candidates are often close to each other. For 6031 Limelight, the top three coated Pantones all sit within ΔE 2.18 of the thread, so the choice between them can rest on the job rather than the numbers: the Pantone already in the brand guide, or the one that sits best next to the other colors in the design.

The two directions do not mirror each other, either. Converting a thread to Pantone searches 1,565 coated colors; converting a Pantone to Isacord searches only 387 thread colors. 330 different coated Pantones are the nearest match for at least one Isacord color, and a pair that matches one way can miss the other: Pantone 389 C finds Isacord 6031 (ΔE 4.62), but 6031 finds Pantone 6421 C (ΔE 1.42).

Coated or uncoated: which Pantone result to use

Use the coated (C) result unless the Pantone will be printed on uncoated paper. Brand guides usually specify a logo with its coated reference, so when an embroidered logo has to agree with the printed brand, the C number is the one to put next to the thread code.

The uncoated result answers a different question: which ink, printed on uncoated stock such as letterhead, comes nearest the thread. It is often a different number — for 315 of the 387 Isacord colors, the nearest uncoated chip is not the uncoated version of the nearest coated one — so switch the toggle rather than changing the C to a U.

Uncoated matches are looser overall, because uncoated inks print duller and lighter: the median nearest match is ΔE 2.9 uncoated against ΔE 2.5 coated. Dark threads show it most. Isacord 0020 Black is Pantone Black 6 C at ΔE 7.57 coated, but Pantone Neutral Black U at ΔE 20.57 uncoated.

Accuracy — read before you specify a color

Isacord values here are sRGB approximations of dyed polyester thread, not measurements of stitched thread, and the Pantone values are this site’s own approximations. Use the Pantone the converter gives you as the reference to proof against, and approve it beside a sewn sample.

Every result is ranked by ΔE*00 (CIEDE2000). Below 1 is imperceptible, 1–2 is a commercial match, 2–5 is visible side by side, and above 5 the colors read as different. Across all 387 Isacord colors, the median nearest coated Pantone lands at ΔE 2.5: about 34% of them have a coated Pantone under ΔE 2, and about 91% have one under ΔE 5. For the rest, the converter says above its results that there is no close match.

In short: conversion values on this page are approximate, because the two systems use different colorants and cover different gamuts. Verify against a physical color standard before committing to production, tooling or a signed-off brand spec.

Related color tools & guides

Where these numbers come from

Isacord thread colors are adapted from the thread palettes of Ink/Stitch, the open-source machine-embroidery extension for Inkscape, which publishes them under the GNU GPL-3.0 license (retrieved 2026-10-13). Each thread is an sRGB value, not a spectral measurement of the physical thread.

Pantone values come from this site’s own approximate dataset — the same values used across the PMS Color Browser and every other converter here — and are not Pantone data.

Matching converts both colors to CIELAB and ranks every Pantone coated and uncoated color by ΔE*00 (CIEDE2000) against each Isacord thread. The converter, the worked conversions and the color chart all run that same calculation on the same data.