Pantone to Robison-Anton Converter

What is Robison-Anton?

Robison-Anton is a US maker of machine-embroidery thread. For color matching, two of its lines matter: polyester and rayon. They are numbered separately, so a Pantone color has a polyester answer and a rayon answer, and they are different threads.

Every color here has a four-digit code, and in our data the first digit tells you the line: rayon codes run from 2201 to 2743, polyester codes from 5501 to 9173, starting with 5, 7 or 9. Still, write the line next to the code on a work order — “polyester 5596”, not just “5596” — so nobody has to know the numbering to reorder.

The palettes used here list 447 polyester codes and 419 rayon codes. Leaving out one polyester code whose color value we treat as unverified, polyester has 416 distinct colors to match against and rayon only 308: far more rayon codes share one color value with another code.

Polyester or rayon: which line to match

Choose the line before you choose the color. The fiber decides how the embroidery survives the garment’s life; the color match only decides how it looks on day one. For laundering, sheen and typical uses in more depth, see our longer comparison of polyester and rayon thread.

So for a logo on a chef coat or a work shirt, start in polyester even where rayon is the closer color. The trap is the names: 248 thread names appear in both lines in our data, and 245 of those pairs even end in the same two digits — Foxy Red is 5563 in polyester and 2263 in rayon — but the colors differ, with a median gap of ΔE 11. Only 24 of the 248 pairs are within ΔE 5 of each other. Never swap one line’s code for the other’s same-named thread; convert from the Pantone in each line.

Why the stitched color differs from the screen

• Sheen and light direction — both fibers reflect light along their length, so stitches running toward the light read lighter than stitches running across it. Rayon’s deeper luster makes the effect stronger.
• Satin versus fill — long satin stitches show the most sheen and read brightest; dense fill breaks the light up and reads deeper. One thread in both stitch types will not look like one color.
• Underlay and fabric — light threads over a dark garment pick up the fabric between stitches, especially at low density.
• Dye lots — cones of one code from different lots can differ slightly; on large or repeat orders, keep to one lot where you can.
• Screen versus physical — every value here is an sRGB approximation, and threads named neon or glow cannot be judged on a screen at all.

Worked Pantone to Robison-Anton conversions

Six common Pantone colors, each with its closest polyester and closest rayon thread. Which line lands closer changes from color to color. Either is only the first cone to test; how a thread match goes from screen to approved sew-out covers what comes next.

Popular Pantone to Robison-Anton matches

The colors embroiderers look up most, each with its three nearest threads in both lines.

Pantone to Robison-Anton conversion chart

The closest polyester and rayon thread for 100 widely used Pantone coated colors — the list behind the site’s Pantone to HEX and CMYK charts, plus 389 C and 390 C — calculated with the same ΔE*00 matching as the converter above. Polyester is the closer line for 52 of them and rayon for 48; 57 have a thread in the Good band or better in both lines, and 13 have none in either. Read it as a quick Robison-Anton thread chart cross-reference.

Where several codes appear in one cell (“2281 / 2419 / 2378 / 2233”), the threads share the same color value in our data. The chart is our own ΔE*00 calculation, not a copy of any manufacturer’s conversion chart.

Robison-Anton polyester thread colors

The full Robison-Anton polyester color chart: all 447 polyester codes in our data, in number order, with each thread’s name, HEX value and closest Pantone coated color — except 5906 TH Gold, whose color value we treat as unverified and do not match. 121 of them have a Pantone within ΔE 2, and 84 have nothing closer than the Fair band. Codes marked “same color as …” share one value in our data. Jump to the rayon chart.

Robison-Anton rayon thread colors

All 419 rayon codes in our data, in number order, each with its closest Pantone coated color. Rayon threads sit closer to a Pantone than polyester ones: the median gap is ΔE 2 against ΔE 2.9, and 209 rayon threads are within ΔE 2 of a Pantone. Names such as TH Gold, KA Bronze and 24 kt. Gold are listed as the source data gives them.