COLOR LAB / PRINT GUIDE

Color Blindness Simulator

Printable model preview · US Letter · static PNG

Color Blindness Chart: Print a Labeled Simulation Guide

Quick answer

Download the chart, then follow each labeled shape across the model rows.

This original color blindness chart is a static, print-sized comparison sheet made for design review. It labels protan, deutan, and tritan model views, keeps every sample tied to a letter and shape, and marks its grayscale preview separately. Use it to inspect chart cues; it is not an eye test, screening plate, or personal diagnosis.

Download the printable PNG Print-ready PDF

Print now: choose “Actual size” or “100%” on US Letter paper; keep “Fit to page” off so the stated paper size is preserved.

Color chart: compare the same four marked samples in every row

Printable color blindness chart with eight labeled rows: normal color vision; protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia using Brettel 1997 at strength 1.00; protanomaly, deuteranomaly, and tritanomaly using Machado 2009 at strength 0.50; and a site grayscale preview. Each sample retains a letter and a distinct shape.
This static PNG is 2550 × 3300 pixels at 300 DPI; it fits one US Letter page at actual size.

The four sample fills are site-generated sRGB swatches. Their letter and marker shape stay attached to each sample, so a grayscale print still shows which series is which. The model rows are preview settings used by this site; they do not predict how a particular person sees a color.

Read the protan, deutan, and tritan type labels

Three cards pair the protan, deutan, and tritan families. Each names its dichromacy preview with Brettel 1997 at strength 1.00 and its anomalous trichromacy preview with Machado 2009 at strength 0.50, then states that a model preview is not a clinical classification.
“Opia” rows use the full dichromacy preview setting; “omaly” rows use the stated midpoint preview setting.

The type key keeps each simulator mode explicit. The site applies its Brettel 1997 projection preview to the three “opia” rows and its Machado 2009 severity-specific matrix preview at 0.50 to the three “omaly” rows. These are named model settings selected for a side-by-side illustration, not measurements or prevalence claims.

Keep labels beside the marks in the actual chart

A legend and a separate chart plot repeat the same four categories with matching letters and circle, triangle, square, and diamond markers, so the key remains linked to spatially separated marks.
Repeat the legend’s word or marker in the plot; a color key alone may be difficult to follow at a distance.

A neighboring swatch row and a finished data chart are different layouts. Put the series name beside a line, repeat a symbol at data points, or use a distinct dash or fill pattern. A 2002 archived design guide specifically named bar charts, maps, and navigation bars when recommending texture, line shading, or written labels instead of color-only regions.

Use a color blindness chart as a design check, not a color eye test

If you searched for a “color eye test chart” or “colour eye test chart,” this printable sheet has a different job: its simulated rows show how this site transforms a small set of design swatches. It cannot screen a viewer. The phrases “color chart color blind” and “colour blind colour chart” can also refer to design references; use this file only for the labeled design-preview task described here.

A commenter discussing a chart that was hard to follow wrote, “Three different shapes with different sizes along with the colors would have been better.” This sheet pairs each color with both a letter and a distinct shape, then the workflow below takes that cue into the actual plot.

Four numbered chart-review cards show choosing a critical mark, comparing the same mark across views, adding a word, shape, dash or pattern, and checking the final chart at its actual size.
Take the second cue into the final chart and recheck it at its published size.

Printable chart review worksheet

Record the chart you reviewed and one concrete change. This small checklist is for the design file, not a viewer’s test result.

Design review noteWrite before release
Chart, page, or exported figure____________________________
Important series or category____________________________
Preview row and stated model setting____________________________
Second cue attached to the marks____________________________
Actual-size print or screen check____________________________
Change made and next reviewer____________________________
  1. Choose one chart category that carries a decision.
  2. Follow its letter or shape across the printed model rows.
  3. Add a direct label, symbol, line style, or pattern to the real chart.
  4. Check the finished figure at its intended size and against its background.

Source and limits

This site-made chart uses the simulator’s existing color transforms and four original sample swatches. Its Brettel dichromacy and Machado anomalous-trichromacy previews are descriptions of implemented model choices; the grayscale row is the site’s luminance preview. A simulation can help review a design, but this sheet does not establish anyone’s type of color vision or clinical status.

The chart-cue advice is attributed to a February 2002 archived design guide; the simulation-method citations above name Brettel, Viénot & Mollon (1997) and Machado, Oliveira & Fernandes (2009).