# Find and compare the nearest shades to your fabric

- URL: https://abdohoo.app/help/shadecard/nearest-shades-and-compare
- Product: Shadecard (https://sc.abdohoo.app)
- Section: Shade library & matching
- Updated: 2026-09-30

> Every result lists the top match and two runners-up; tap one to swap. On any shade, the Visually similar list and Compare show the ΔE00 and ΔL*, Δa*, Δb*, ΔC* side by side.

Shadecard never gives you just one answer. Every result lists the **nearest shade plus two runners-up** under **Also worth a look — tap to swap**, and you can open **Compare side by side** to see exactly how your fabric differs from the shade. In the library, each shade's page lists its four **Visually similar** neighbours with a **Compare** button for each.

## Swap to a runner-up on the result

Borderline readings happen: two library shades can sit almost equally close to your cloth. The result shows the two alternatives with a word for how close each is (for example **close match** or **decent match**).

1. Scroll the result to **Also worth a look — tap to swap**.
2. Tap a runner-up. It becomes the main match: the name, verdict, meter, **Starting recipe** and tuning tips all update.
3. Tap the original shade in the same list to swap back.

Reasons to swap: the runner-up's recipe is one your dye house already runs, its name matches what the buyer calls the colour, or the **Light check** shows the top match is light-sensitive (the app then suggests considering the next candidate).

## Compare your fabric with the shade

Tap **Compare side by side** near the bottom of the result. The Compare screen puts **Measured** (your capture) next to the shade, with each one's L\*, a\*, b\*, ratio and depth, then a **Visual difference** verdict and the breakdown:

Each Δ is the left colour minus the right one – on a result, your fabric minus the shade:

LinePositive means the left colour is…Negative means…**ΔL\*** (lightness)lighterdarker**Δa\*** (green ↔ red)reddergreener**Δb\*** (blue ↔ yellow)yellowerbluer**ΔC\*** (chroma)more vividdullerThe verdict words follow the overall ΔE00: **Virtually identical** (under 1), **Very close** (under 2.5), **Similar, but distinguishable side by side** (under 5), **Noticeably different** (under 9), **Clearly different** (9 and above). When the lightness or chroma gap is large, it adds a plain sentence such as *…is lighter and softer than…*. When you compare your own capture, a section headed **From \[shade\] toward your fabric** repeats the tuning tips.

![Compare screen with Olive and Cactus III side by side, their L*a*b*, Y:R:B ratios and depths, and a Visual difference card reading ΔE00 1.39 close with ΔL*, Δa*, Δb* and ΔC*](https://abdohoo.app/media/library/shadecard/android-compare.webp)Compare: two neighbouring shades, their numbers and the difference in plain wordsUse the Δ lines as a direction for your correction. On a result's Compare screen, a negative Δb\* means your fabric is bluer than the shade, so the recipe needs relatively more blue (or less yellow). The result's **Tuning tips** say the same thing in words.

## Visually similar shades in the library

Open any shade from the **Shade library** (or from your favourites). Under **Visually similar** you get the four nearest library shades, each with its ΔE00 and a quality word (**excellent**, **close**, **fair**, **far**). Tap a name to open that shade, or tap **Compare** to see the two side by side.

![Shade detail for Olive: swatch, GREENS and ILLUSTRATIVE SEED badges, hex and Lab, ISCC-NBS designation, starting recipe Y 56 R 16 B 28, and four visually similar shades with Compare buttons](https://abdohoo.app/media/library/shadecard/android-shade-detail.webp)Shade detail: starting recipe and the four visually similar neighboursWith 13,297 shades packed at least 1.3 ΔE00 apart, close neighbours are normal. Numbered variants such as *Cactus III* and *Cactus V* are separate library points near each other, each with its own ratio.

## Which numbers to trust

- **The ratio differences between neighbours are small** – for example Y 56 · R 16 · B 28 against Y 56 · R 17 · B 27. That is about the size of a lab-dip correction.
- **Library values are illustrative.** The shade page says so under **ABOUT THESE VALUES**: the colours are not dyed swatches measured on a spectrophotometer.
- **Your screen is not the cloth.** Judge the final colour on the dyed dip in daylight, not on the phone.

## Related

- [Read your result](https://abdohoo.app/help/shadecard/reading-your-result)
- [Browse and search the shade library](https://abdohoo.app/help/shadecard/browse-and-search-shade-library)
- Blog: [CIELAB and Delta E (ΔE2000) explained for dyers](https://abdohoo.app/blog/cielab-delta-e-2000-explained-for-dyers)

## Frequently asked questions

### Why would I pick a runner-up instead of the top match?

When two shades are only a little apart, the one whose recipe or name you already use may be the better start, or the light check may show the top match is light-sensitive.

### Why do Visually similar and the result use different ΔE numbers?

Matching your fabric uses ΔE2000 with 2:1 lightness weighting, so depth matters less. Visually similar and Compare use plain ΔE2000 (1:1), the true visual difference between two shades.

### Are the swatch colours on screen exact?

No. The app says so on the Compare screen: screen colours are approximations, because dyed textiles reflect light and screens emit it.