How to read and use a RAL fan deck

A fan deck is the plainest tool in colour work and the one I would keep if I could only keep one. A screen gives you a guess. A retailer's printed chart gives you that retailer's guess. A fan deck gives you a printed reference made for one job: holding a colour next to another colour and deciding whether they agree. It is still a printed sample and not the paint itself, but it is the closest thing most of us have to a common language when we talk to a paint counter, a powder coater or a joiner.

This piece covers what is actually in a RAL Classic fan deck, how it is laid out, how to compare a strip against a wall or a part without fooling yourself, and how to look after it so it stays worth trusting.

What a RAL Classic fan deck is

A fan deck is a stack of narrow card strips joined at one end by a rivet or screw, so the strips spread out like a hand of cards. The RAL Classic version most people meet is the one sold as K7. It holds the whole Classic range, roughly 200 colours, printed as patches with the four-digit number and the colour name beside each one.

The colours run in number order, from the 1000s at one end to the 9000s at the other. That makes it a lookup tool first and a design tool second. If someone hands you "RAL 6005" on a drawing, you can find it in seconds. If you want to browse for "a soft green", you will be flicking back and forth, because the deck is ordered by number and not by how similar the colours look.

RAL also publishes other ranges, such as RAL Design and RAL Effect, with their own numbering and their own fans. Before you rely on a deck, check the cover says Classic. A borrowed RAL Design fan with seven-digit codes will not help you find RAL 7016.

How the series are laid out

The first digit of a RAL Classic number tells you the colour family. The RAL Classic chart on this site follows the same order, so the groups below will look familiar from either.

First digit	Family	A few examples
1	Yellows and beiges	RAL 1013 oyster white, RAL 1015 light ivory, RAL 1021 rape yellow
2	Oranges	RAL 2004 pure orange, RAL 2005 luminous orange
3	Reds	RAL 3000 flame red, RAL 3020 traffic red
4	Violets	RAL 4005 blue lilac
5	Blues	RAL 5010 gentian blue
6	Greens	RAL 6005 moss green, RAL 6009 fir green
7	Greys	RAL 7016 anthracite grey, RAL 7035 light grey
8	Browns	RAL 8017 chocolate brown
9	Whites and blacks	RAL 9005 jet black, RAL 9010 pure white

Two things catch people out. First, the numbers are not continuous. The yellows run 1000 to 1007 and then jump to 1011, and there are gaps all through the range. Do not assume a number exists because its neighbours do. Second, neighbours by number are not always neighbours by eye. RAL 9005 jet black sits a step away from RAL 9006 white aluminium, a metallic silver. RAL 1013 oyster white lives among the yellows because it is a warm off-white, not because anyone would call it yellow.

Metallic and pearl shades, such as RAL 9006 and RAL 9007, are printed in the deck as well, but a flat printed patch can only hint at how a metallic finish behaves when you walk past it. Treat those patches as a rough guide and ask for a sprayed sample.

Reading the number and the name

Each patch carries a number and a name. The number is the part that matters. Write it as "RAL" followed by a space and four digits, and put that on every order, email and sticky note. Names are friendly but slippery: they change between languages and between sellers (RAL 1021 is rape yellow in English, and some sellers call it colza yellow), and a name like "light ivory" invites people to picture a piano key instead of the patch.

The number also says nothing about sheen. RAL 9005 in matt and RAL 9005 in high gloss are both RAL 9005, and they will look noticeably different side by side. Ask for the gloss level separately, every time.

Comparing a strip against a wall or a part

This is where a fan deck earns its place, and where most mistakes happen. My routine is the same every time.

1. Lay the strip flat on the surface. Fold the other strips back and press the one you want against the wall, door or part, so there is no gap and no shadow between them. A strip held up in the air at an angle catches the light differently from the surface behind it.
2. Use daylight, but not direct sun. Indirect light from a window is the fairest. Then check again under the room's own lamps in the evening, because that is where the colour will live.
3. Look from arm's length, then step back a couple of metres. Up close you notice texture; from a distance you see colour.
4. Hide the neighbours. A patch surrounded by bright reds looks different from the same patch surrounded by greys. Cover the rest of the strip with your hand or a plain grey card.
5. Never compare against a screen. A phone or monitor makes its own light, and a printed patch only reflects light, so the two will never sit side by side honestly. If you want the long version of why, there is a separate note on why RAL colours look different on screen.

Two effects are worth knowing about before you commit. A large painted wall usually looks lighter and stronger than the small patch you chose it from. And a strip is printed in one sheen, so a gloss paint in the same number will look a little deeper and a matt paint a little lighter and chalkier.

Worked example: oyster white or light ivory for a hallway

A typical case: a narrow hallway with a front door at one end, a small glazed panel letting in north light, and one warm-white ceiling lamp. The choice is between RAL 1013 oyster white and RAL 1015 light ivory.

On a screen the two look like close cousins. The approximate screen values on this site are about #E3D9C6 for RAL 1013 and about #E6D2B5 for RAL 1015 light ivory, and those are only screen approximations. In print the difference is clearer. RAL 1013 is a greyish, slightly cool off-white. RAL 1015 is warmer and creamier, with more yellow in it.

Here is how I would work through it.

• Open the deck at the 1000s and fold both strips out. Lay them flat on the existing wall at shoulder height, near the glazed panel.
• Look again near the floor at the far end, where the light is weakest. A pale colour that looks clean in good light can turn grey and flat in a dim corner.
• Come back after dark with the lamp on. Warm lamps push every off-white towards cream, so RAL 1015 can start to look buttery, while RAL 1013 picks up just enough warmth to look like a soft white.
• Hold each strip next to the skirting and the door. If the woodwork is a bright white, RAL 1015 will read as clearly cream against it; RAL 1013 will look like a deliberate, quieter version of the white.

For a dim, north-lit hallway with warm lamps I would lean towards RAL 1013, because the lamps supply the warmth for you. A brighter hallway with cool daylight might suit RAL 1015 better. Either way, the deck only gets you to a shortlist. The next step is a sample pot mixed to each number, two coats on a sheet of card, taped up for a couple of days. Compare the dry card with the strip, never the wet paint, which is often darker until it cures.

Storage and fading

A fan deck is printed ink on card, and ink fades. Light is the main enemy, especially for the yellows and reds, so keep the deck closed and in its sleeve when you are not using it. A deck that has lived open on a sunny windowsill is no longer a reference; it is a souvenir.

Grease and dirt are the second enemy. A deck that spends its life in a kitchen or a workshop picks up a thin film from cooking, fingers and dust, and that film nudges every pale colour towards yellow. Wash your hands before you handle it, and keep it out of hot cars, where heat can warp the card and age the print faster.

There is a simple check. Fan the deck out and compare the outer ends of the strips, which take the light and the fingers, with the part near the rivet, which stays covered. If the ends look different from the protected section, the deck has aged. Printed editions can also vary a little from one print run to the next, so if your deck is old and well used, replacing it is cheaper than one wrong batch of paint. If you need a new one, a physical RAL fan deck is listed with the other reference kit on the tool shelf.

Why paint shops keep their own deck

If you take your deck to a paint counter, do not be offended when the staff reach for theirs. They have good reasons. Their deck has lived under their lights, next to their mixing machine, and they use it to check a drawdown or a sprayed card before it goes out. Their tinting formulas are worked out for their own system, so their deck is part of their routine for spotting a mix that has gone wrong.

Your deck is still useful at the counter. If your strip and theirs disagree visibly, that is worth mentioning, because one of them has faded or come from a different print run. Most counters would rather hear about it before they mix five litres than after.

Single colour cards versus fans

A fan is the right tool for choosing among many colours and for looking up a number quickly. It is the wrong tool for judging a large area, because each patch is small. Larger single colour cards and sheets exist for individual shades, and they are better for a final check on a wall or for showing a client one chosen colour. They are also easier to store flat in a folder, away from light, and to keep with a job file.

My habit is to use the fan to get from two hundred colours to three, and a larger card or a painted sample to get from three to one.

Whatever you use, write on the back of your final sample card the RAL number, the sheen, the paint maker and the date it was mixed. When you need touch-up paint in five years, that note will be worth more than any deck.