Compare Colors

Overview

Each `color1` and `color2` value has its `#` stripped and is read as hex. Three-digit shorthand is expanded (`F00` becomes `FF0000`) and the alpha byte of an eight-digit value is dropped, so transparency never affects the result. The channels are converted to HSL in the usual way, with hue in degrees and saturation and lightness as percentages, rounded to one decimal in the response.

`rgb_distance` is the straight-line distance between the two colors in 0-255 RGB space, and `rgb_similarity` rescales it to a percentage of the largest possible distance (black to white). `hsl_similarity` is built from the hue gap, measured around the color wheel so 350 and 10 degrees are 20 apart, plus the saturation and lightness gaps, each normalised to 0-1 before they are combined. `overall_similarity` is the plain average of those two percentages. `similarity_category` maps it with fixed cut-offs: 95 and above is nearly identical, 85 very similar, 70 similar, 50 somewhat similar, 30 different, and anything lower very different.

`delta_e` is CIE76: both colors are converted from sRGB to CIE-LAB under the D65 white point and the Euclidean distance is taken there, so it tracks perceived difference more closely than the RGB figures. All distances and percentages are rounded to two decimals. `are_identical` compares the normalised hex strings, so `#ff0000` and `FF0000` match, but a shorthand value and its six-digit form do not. On the Free plan the distance, Delta E, HSL similarity and per-channel difference fields come back null.

Live Test Compare Colors Source →

Formula

One function covers the whole catalog: the first argument names the source, the next are its inputs, and the field after them says which single value lands in the cell. Formulas covers the grammar that applies to all of them.

=VERVE("colorsimilarity", A2, B2, "overall_similarity")

=VERVE.CALL("colorsimilarity", A2, B2, "overall_similarity")

A2 holds color1, B2 holds color2. Arguments go in that order — the same order as the table below.

With literal values

Nothing has to come from a cell — typed values work the same way.

=VERVE("colorsimilarity", "FF5733", "FF6B47", "overall_similarity")

=VERVE.CALL("colorsimilarity", "FF5733", "FF6B47", "overall_similarity")

Inputs

Required inputs are positional, in the order below, followed by the field. Everything else is passed as a "name", value pair after that — the same shape as SUMIFS. Premium inputs are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

What lands in your sheet

The field — the argument after the inputs — is what makes the formula resolve to one cell. Its value is a dot-path from the table below, so swapping it is how you pull a different value — one formula per column.

Seeing everything at once

Leave the field out and the formula returns the whole response instead: two columns, field name on the left and value on the right, spilling from the cell you typed in.

=VERVE("colorsimilarity", A2, B2)

=VERVE.CALL("colorsimilarity", A2, B2)

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Each one is exactly what the field argument accepts, so swapping it is how you pull a different value into a cell. On a plan without a Premium field the cell reads #PREMIUM(field) rather than a value, so a locked field never looks like a real answer.

Filling a whole column

Both platforms make one batched call for a column rather than one request per cell, and both cost the same — 1 credit per row looked up. How you write it differs, because the two runtimes batch at different points.

=VERVE("colorsimilarity", A2:A100, B2:B100, "overall_similarity")

In Google Sheets, give the arguments ranges and the answers spill down from the cell you typed in. Custom functions there run synchronously and in isolation, so dragged cells cannot be coalesced — the range form is how a column becomes one call. The field is required here: a per-row two-column table has nowhere to spill. Use a full column per input (A2:A100, not A2) — a single-cell reference is read as row 1 only and the rest of the column comes back blank.

In Excel, type the formula once and fill down — no range form and none needed, because its runtime is asynchronous and the add-in coalesces the calls a fill produces into a single batched request. Do not hand VERVE.CALL a range: Excel flattens it into positional arguments, so A2:A100 arrives as a hundred separate arguments and the cell reads #ERR rather than filling.

Either way, column A holds your color1 values and the answers land beside them, one row each, blank rows skipped.

When a cell doesn't fill

A failed lookup returns readable text starting with #ERR rather than a spreadsheet error, because Excel cannot show a custom message on a real error — you would get a bare #VALUE! with no reason. The trade-off is that IFERROR() will not catch it; test with LEFT(cell, 4) = "#ERR" instead. Error handling covers the rest.

Before the formula works

The add-in reads the API key you saved once in the side panel — the key never goes in the formula, so a shared sheet does not leak it and a collaborator without access simply sees the last calculated values.

1. Install the add-in for Google Sheets or Excel.
2. Open the side panel and sign in, or paste a key from your dashboard.
3. Type the formula above into any cell.

Use cases

Color Matching

Find and compare similar colors for design consistency and brand compliance

Image Processing

Compare colors in images for color correction and matching operations

Design Systems

Validate color palette consistency and identify similar colors in design systems

Quality Control

Compare product colors against standards for quality assurance and brand consistency

Other ways to use Compare Colors

Set up Compare Colors on VerveSheets, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveSheets account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

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