Why conversion is needed
DMC and Anchor both make six-strand cotton in hundreds of colours, but their numbers are unrelated: DMC 310 is black, and so is Anchor 403. A pattern charted in DMC gives you DMC numbers, so if you stitch with Anchor you need to find the nearest shade for each one. Our data holds 489 DMC colours and 444 Anchor colours, so even in theory there cannot be a one-to-one match for everything.
How our matches are made
Each colour has an approximate RGB value from published colour datasets (the DMC values come via the dmc R package, the Anchor values are sampled from the swatches on Anchor’s own shade card and put on the same lightness scale as the DMC data; details on our methodology page). We convert each value to CIELAB, a colour space designed around how people see colour. For every DMC colour we find the Anchor colour with the smallest CIEDE2000 difference (ΔE), and the reverse. Every row in our DMC to Anchor and Anchor to DMC tables shows both swatches, the ΔE and a rating:
| Rating | ΔE | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Very close | 3 or less | Hard to tell apart in normal light |
| Close | over 3, up to 6 | Fine for almost any project |
| Approximate | over 6, up to 10 | Check against neighbouring colours |
| No good match | over 10 | Choose a substitute by eye |
How good are the matches overall?
Most conversions are comfortable: 77% of DMC colours have an Anchor match rated very close or close. The weak spots are deep golds, coppers and topaz browns, and the bright turquoises, where Anchor has nothing near:
| DMC colour | Nearest Anchor | ΔE |
|---|---|---|
| 680Old Gold Dark | 907Light yellow | 14.5 |
| 3846Turquoise Bright Light | 185Light teal | 14.1 |
| 300Mahogany Vy Dk | 1088Very dark brown | 13.9 |
| 3829Old Gold Vy Dark | 856Brown | 13.3 |
| 918Red-Copper Dark | 944Dark brown | 12.8 |
| 919Red-Copper | 310Dark brown | 11.8 |
| 3844Turquoise Bright Dark | 187Teal | 11.7 |
| 700Green Bright | 229Dark green | 11.7 |
Why the two directions differ
If DMC 3810 converts to Anchor 779, you might expect Anchor 779 to convert back to DMC 3810. It cannot be relied on to, because eight DMC blues, turquoises and teals share Anchor 779 as their nearest match. Conversion is many-to-one:
- Anchor colours used
- 265as nearest match for the 489 DMC colours
- DMC colours sharing a match
- 72%353 colours; up to 8 share Anchor 779
- Round trip lands home
- 40%DMC → nearest Anchor → nearest DMC gives the starting colour
- Visibly different pairs merged
- 332DMC pairs over ΔE 3 apart that share one Anchor match
Nearest-colour matching sends each DMC colour to whichever Anchor colour is closest, and many DMC colours have the same closest neighbour. When you go back, that Anchor colour can only point to one DMC colour, usually the one nearest to it. That is why the two tables are not mirror images, and why converting a chart twice does not give you the original.
When matches merge
Many-to-one matching matters most when two colours in the same pattern share a match. They become one thread, and the difference between them disappears. Sometimes that is harmless, but some merged pairs were clearly different to begin with:
| DMC pair | Both become Anchor | ΔE between the DMC pair |
|---|---|---|
| 834 and 680 | 907 | 15.9 |
| 300 and 938 | 1088 | 15.2 |
| 995 and 3768 | 779 | 14.9 |
| 829 and 782 | 277 | 14.3 |
| 912 and 702 | 239 | 13.3 |
| 3740 and 333 | 872 | 13.2 |
| 918 and 434 | 944 | 13.0 |
| 782 and 3862 | 277 | 13.0 |
Each pair in that table is at least ΔE 13 apart, a difference anyone would see, yet both colours have the same nearest Anchor colour. If both appear in one pattern, a straight conversion turns two shades into one.
What happened when we converted our library
To see how often this bites in practice, we converted every DMC cross stitch pattern in our library to Anchor, the same way the editor does:
- Library patterns converted
- 100every DMC cross stitch pattern in our library
- Lost at least one colour
- 1313% of patterns
- Colours before → after
- 566 → 552across all of them
| Pattern | DMC colours | After converting to Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Garden mandala | 7 | 5 |
| Acorn | 5 | 4 |
| Barn owl | 13 | 12 |
| Black cat and moon | 3 | 2 |
| Christmas pudding | 7 | 6 |
| Crescent moon and stars | 4 | 3 |
| Diwali diya | 6 | 5 |
| Dragonfly | 4 | 3 |
Most patterns came through intact, but about one in eight lost a colour. The garden mandala went from 7 colours to 5, and the barn owl from 13 to 12. After any whole-pattern conversion, compare the number of colours in the key and look at areas of gradual shading.
Judging a substitution
A match that is close on its own can still cause trouble next to its neighbours. Watch out for:
- Gradients: skin tones, skies and petals rely on small steps between shades. If two neighbouring colours convert to the same thread, the step disappears; choose the next shade up or down for one of them.
- Contrast: outlines and lettering need contrast with the background; check it survives the swap.
- Large flat areas: a background in one shade shows a substitute clearly if part of it is worked in a different thread. Use one brand for the whole area.
- Specialty threads: metallic, variegated and satin threads have no reliable equivalent and are best chosen by eye.
Checking with real thread
Screens show colour differently, and thread has sheen that swatches cannot show. The two brands also handle differently: DMC has a slightly tighter twist and silkier sheen, Anchor a softer feel. For important colours, hold the candidate skeins next to each other on your fabric, in daylight. A shop’s physical shade card is the best reference.
Converting a whole pattern
- Open the pattern in the editor and change the Palette to Anchor (or DMC).
- Every colour is remapped to its nearest match, the key lists the new numbers and the skein counts update.
- Compare the number of colours before and after. If it dropped, two colours merged.
- Find the merged area and use Replace to give one of the shades the next Anchor colour up or down.
- Check the darkest and lightest colours, since outlines and highlights carry the most definition.
For colour choice in general, including how many colours a design needs, see choosing thread colours.
Other brands
The same method works for other thread brands, but only when reliable colour values are available. We only list brands whose colour data we can document; for anything else, use the brand’s own printed shade card and compare by eye in daylight. When a pattern calls for a specialty brand, the safest substitute is usually found by laying candidate skeins on the fabric you will stitch on, because fabric colour changes how a thread reads.