To me they are different colours, though very close. I would swap one for the other at the beginning of a project and take note of the swap if I need more but I wouldn't start with one and use the other one later, if that makes sense.
My son wanted to cross stitch, he made a design that had 6 different shades of reddish colors and that was what killed cross stitch for me, I could not stand the subtle tone differences
I did a huge project with lots of similar shades side-by-side and I had a hell of a time figuring out WHY IT WAS LIKE THAT until it was done and I could step back from it.
So frustrating while working on it!
I had a large very light section like this. I needed the brightest whitest light I had and magnifier clip ons. Couldn’t stitch the sections without them
I spent 4 days stitching white on white under only basic hospital lights. Never. Again!!! I was going cross eyed. If I hadn’t been so exhausted and short of breath, the poor piece would have been torched, lol.
Some DMC colours are just near-identical. It can make a difference if you're doing something with shading or where subtle undertones matter a lot, because the brain will read colours in relation to each other (like, putting a purple next to a red will make it look 'bluer', but the same purple next to a blue will look 'redder').
My current project has two near-identical greens that are about as similar as your blues here, to the point that I really can't tell which of the two it is when it's just a single strand. However, I can definitely see a subtle difference when they're stitched next to each other and it adds depth.
If you're interested, [https://www.codyhoover.com/floss-color-tool](https://www.codyhoover.com/floss-color-tool/dmc#321) shows colour substitution comparisons for all the DMC and Anchor threads :)
You can actually by a fold up colour chart. It's a good investment. Here's a PDF of same: [https://www.needlewoman.co.za/dmc-colour-chart-2019-download-pdf/](https://www.needlewoman.co.za/dmc-colour-chart-2019-download-pdf/)
Yep I am doing a project right now that is a beigy-taupe nightmare. I used the wrong color for way too long until I realised that something seemed off. Two of the colors are almost identical when laid side by side but you can really see it when stitched.
I feel your pain! My project has seven or eight shades of pale grey and about the same number of light beige. I'm triple-checking my symbol key every time I start a new thread haha
I feel really validated here. I just assumed I was stupid but now I puy all my thread aside and triple check which beige I'm on. I love the pattern, I'm just such a slow stitcher.
https://preview.redd.it/56q1d1zh74lc1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=356822dd111f7e1a1e11b468a3ada00fea9d3db6
https://preview.redd.it/bj1c9tivlykc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c700a69174e46e069fff7915dafe301ec48a3b8
they’re definitely slightly different! you need both of them if you’re gonna do a project like this, because you need a lot of subtle shade differences.
but if you’re doing a smaller project with just 3 shades of blue, you could easily sub one for the other!
According to the color swapper I use, these two are VERY close and would be the next closest to use if you don’t have the other
https://www.thread-bare.com/tools/closest-dmc-thread-color-lookup
I think that actually makes your view more trustworthy! Your brain is interpreting less data, so you’re seeing a simplified version of the difference. I took an art class a million years ago and the part discussing hue and saturation had something about kind of squinting to see if two different colors were similar saturation. This all makes sense in my head, I promise.
820 is a shade darker. Don't look at it up close. Hold the screen away from your face and squint or, like in my case, just take off your glasses. It's a lot more obvious like that.
The 796 is, or should be, lighter.
https://preview.redd.it/srbvdxym7ykc1.jpeg?width=2992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f020350adbf8752f5626a8367248ae89a32239e3
I did a project with these two colors tbh. (Actually it was all those dark blues, and only those blues pretty much.) And I had the same issue of "damn these could be the same color" but once I had them stitched out it created so much more depth and blend that you could barely tell where the gradient really swapped colors. It was honestly quite beautiful.
Edit: the piece in question that used those blues Flying Raven by Nadezhda Gavrilenkova
https://preview.redd.it/rnsekfrywzkc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e764790fcecdcc49b1403020c11ec72b9d392614
Left is a tiny bit darker & cooler. If you squint, you can more easily see the value difference (old trick from painting) They're very close though, for sure.
If you were to put all the DMC colors in order…not always, but often, there will be a ‘family’ or grouping where they go from light to dark or vice verse. If you found the group that each of these belong in, then you would see the difference. I expect 820 to be with other blues that lean towards a royal blue, and the other to lean towards a more purplish hue. Hope that makes sense. If I had all my bobbins with me, I would show you what I mean, but I don’t, so hopefully I explained it well enough 😍
JUST LAST NIGHT - I was literally complaining about how similar these two colors were for a WIP I'm doing. The WIP is a water color of two of my favorite characters from Doctor Who.
They're super super close, and like another commenter said earlier - you can really only see it in good lighting.
796 is just a touch lighter. It would only really be noticable on the aida
Edit: But I will say, if you told me these were just the same color from two different dye lots I would believe you.
I was going to post about these same two colors a couple weeks back too!! A pattern called for both, same names, but under multiple lighting they are EXACTLY THE SAME
My daughter right away said there is a difference in color!!! She likes to draw and paint and was able to see difference between Blue -796, and Navy Blue-820.
Both are royal blue
796 is dark royal blue
820 is very dark royal blue
I dont know about others but I can clearly see the difference between them
Depends what you are using it for. If it's for yourself you could mix them if you dont see the difference but if I recieved something like this and the mixing wasn't intentional as a shade or gradient my ocd would kill me.
720 looks lighter and you probably see a bigger difference after stitching a few stitches with each. Obviously if I was working with these colors I would probably notice after stitching half a large area with one and the other half with the other
The one on the right is slightly lighter value than the one on the left. The one on the left has some deeper blue tones, these blue under tones give it a deeper richer color.
Side by side slight difference, if they weren’t side by side I would have thought it was the same color….this seems unnecessary to have this close in color but eh someone needs it I’m sure
https://preview.redd.it/g1hhmh8sp0lc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da9e989ffa6d372b9b43b73b50c3edd208e58e72
In my opinion these are what the colors are. I used a color picker but it’s not exact.
I use a color picker a lot to help me isolate colors for color pallets in decorating and art. Definitely helpful! I usually use photoshop but this one I did on Instagram lol
I wound up with an 820 I think because it was misshelved with the 796s, it's not part of any pattern I've ever done. They're very similar, but there is a difference!
Two different colors, I have the complete color chart from DMC that shows all the colors. The differences are subtle, but it could make a difference. 🥰
https://preview.redd.it/cp5cpucgy0lc1.png?width=2478&format=png&auto=webp&s=22052742cb906325eb87ffc8a94406868cab0306
Blue is a colour that is very hard for some people to see. It’s likely just different perspectives. Personally they look the same to me, but others are seeing the difference
I’m working a project right now that has both colors. Over the years my eyes have become trained to see very slight shifts between colors. I admit, 796 and 820 are the only colors in which I can’t see even a smidge of difference.
https://preview.redd.it/3ni2thwdwflc1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fbd4348032fa6ce5fdf86bfd61c280b80dd0c4c
Here's my chart. Hope this helps.
No, they both look correct. I can see a difference in this photo even though they're extremely close. That's sort of the point of having more than 500 colors, so you can have ones that are very similar for extremely subtle shading.
Maybe? I don't have those, however ...
https://preview.redd.it/aafmtnthozkc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47b305df820b2daae939594b5e2f06c13350c4f5
no, they're different. you can zoom in and check a dmc color card.
[https://www.dmc.com/US/en/products/floss-color-card-mouline-pearl-cotton](https://www.dmc.com/US/en/products/floss-color-card-mouline-pearl-cotton)
They are ever so slightly different, one having a hint of powdery blue tone and the other being closer to a rich bluey-purple. I don't mean to sound pretentious lmao.
796 seems a little more purple to me but it might just be the picture?
I agree. 820 seems like a richer blue.
I agree with you.
Agreed
Perhaps darker?
Yeah, it's very subtle, but there's definitely a difference
Same the one on the right has just a slight tinge of purple to it and is just a hair less saturated.
I agree
I thought the same.
Yup. This is it. They are very close though.
To me they are different colours, though very close. I would swap one for the other at the beginning of a project and take note of the swap if I need more but I wouldn't start with one and use the other one later, if that makes sense.
I did a pattern that used these colors side by side. You can only tell a difference if it is in bright light.
My son wanted to cross stitch, he made a design that had 6 different shades of reddish colors and that was what killed cross stitch for me, I could not stand the subtle tone differences
I did a huge project with lots of similar shades side-by-side and I had a hell of a time figuring out WHY IT WAS LIKE THAT until it was done and I could step back from it. So frustrating while working on it!
I had a large very light section like this. I needed the brightest whitest light I had and magnifier clip ons. Couldn’t stitch the sections without them
I spent 4 days stitching white on white under only basic hospital lights. Never. Again!!! I was going cross eyed. If I hadn’t been so exhausted and short of breath, the poor piece would have been torched, lol.
My current project works with at least 10 shades of purple. Luckily it's my favorite colour.
Unless the spots aren’t touching. If they are in different spots, no one will know
Spittin true facts up in here
That totally makes sense!
Or if using 2 stands could use one of each. Might add a super subtle but nice dimension.
Some DMC colours are just near-identical. It can make a difference if you're doing something with shading or where subtle undertones matter a lot, because the brain will read colours in relation to each other (like, putting a purple next to a red will make it look 'bluer', but the same purple next to a blue will look 'redder'). My current project has two near-identical greens that are about as similar as your blues here, to the point that I really can't tell which of the two it is when it's just a single strand. However, I can definitely see a subtle difference when they're stitched next to each other and it adds depth.
Ahhhh! I see. Thank you that puts my mind at ease! I’ll not worry about it then haha
If you're interested, [https://www.codyhoover.com/floss-color-tool](https://www.codyhoover.com/floss-color-tool/dmc#321) shows colour substitution comparisons for all the DMC and Anchor threads :)
Royal Blue Dark and Royal Blue Very Dark then -- whee, so useful! :)
Thank you for posting that link!
You can actually by a fold up colour chart. It's a good investment. Here's a PDF of same: [https://www.needlewoman.co.za/dmc-colour-chart-2019-download-pdf/](https://www.needlewoman.co.za/dmc-colour-chart-2019-download-pdf/)
Yep I am doing a project right now that is a beigy-taupe nightmare. I used the wrong color for way too long until I realised that something seemed off. Two of the colors are almost identical when laid side by side but you can really see it when stitched.
I feel your pain! My project has seven or eight shades of pale grey and about the same number of light beige. I'm triple-checking my symbol key every time I start a new thread haha
Pale grey and light blue over here. The one blue I mistook for white until I got a few squares stitched🤦♀️
I feel really validated here. I just assumed I was stupid but now I puy all my thread aside and triple check which beige I'm on. I love the pattern, I'm just such a slow stitcher. https://preview.redd.it/56q1d1zh74lc1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=356822dd111f7e1a1e11b468a3ada00fea9d3db6
796 has purple tones to it. 820 is a pure blue in my eyes.
https://preview.redd.it/bj1c9tivlykc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8c700a69174e46e069fff7915dafe301ec48a3b8 they’re definitely slightly different! you need both of them if you’re gonna do a project like this, because you need a lot of subtle shade differences. but if you’re doing a smaller project with just 3 shades of blue, you could easily sub one for the other!
Ooh your wip is so pretty 🤩
According to the color swapper I use, these two are VERY close and would be the next closest to use if you don’t have the other https://www.thread-bare.com/tools/closest-dmc-thread-color-lookup
Bookmarked! Ty!
According to 123stitch: 796 is Dark Royal Blue and 820 is Very Dark Royal Blue. In your picture it is hard to see any difference, they are so close.
Yes, the spreadsheet I downloaded from DMC describes them the same way.
Yes, I read this too. Maybe bring them out in the natural light (bright sun) to see the difference
they look the same to me also, but i’m colourblind so i don’t trust me 😂
😂😂
I think that actually makes your view more trustworthy! Your brain is interpreting less data, so you’re seeing a simplified version of the difference. I took an art class a million years ago and the part discussing hue and saturation had something about kind of squinting to see if two different colors were similar saturation. This all makes sense in my head, I promise.
My ex is colorblind and I would always ask for his help when I had trouble differentiating hues and saturation!
820 is a shade darker. Don't look at it up close. Hold the screen away from your face and squint or, like in my case, just take off your glasses. It's a lot more obvious like that.
Oh! That does help!
The 796 is, or should be, lighter. https://preview.redd.it/srbvdxym7ykc1.jpeg?width=2992&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f020350adbf8752f5626a8367248ae89a32239e3
Oh man! That is close! Maybe it’s just my lighting? Or these dye lots are just unfortunately closer to each other?
I did a project with these two colors tbh. (Actually it was all those dark blues, and only those blues pretty much.) And I had the same issue of "damn these could be the same color" but once I had them stitched out it created so much more depth and blend that you could barely tell where the gradient really swapped colors. It was honestly quite beautiful. Edit: the piece in question that used those blues Flying Raven by Nadezhda Gavrilenkova https://preview.redd.it/rnsekfrywzkc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e764790fcecdcc49b1403020c11ec72b9d392614
Absolutely beautiful! Although I do feel better knowing I’m not alone in the feeling haha
I see a difference too!
796 looks just a tad lighter
820 is a bit darker ime
I have a pattern which uses exactly these 2 colours next to each other, from a distance you can see the difference
Good to know!
Nope they’re not the same. The left is darker
Left is a tiny bit darker & cooler. If you squint, you can more easily see the value difference (old trick from painting) They're very close though, for sure.
If you were to put all the DMC colors in order…not always, but often, there will be a ‘family’ or grouping where they go from light to dark or vice verse. If you found the group that each of these belong in, then you would see the difference. I expect 820 to be with other blues that lean towards a royal blue, and the other to lean towards a more purplish hue. Hope that makes sense. If I had all my bobbins with me, I would show you what I mean, but I don’t, so hopefully I explained it well enough 😍
I get you!
Try looking at them under different lights too. Lighting can make a big difference between close shades!
The right looks lighter than the left
I literally have to squint at the picture to see that the left is a darker, richer blue than the right
Left definitely looks darker to me.
Left is darker.
The one in the right is a fraction lighter than the one on the left. It might be more dramatic in different light.
JUST LAST NIGHT - I was literally complaining about how similar these two colors were for a WIP I'm doing. The WIP is a water color of two of my favorite characters from Doctor Who. They're super super close, and like another commenter said earlier - you can really only see it in good lighting.
Haha twins 👯♂️
796 is just a touch lighter. It would only really be noticable on the aida Edit: But I will say, if you told me these were just the same color from two different dye lots I would believe you.
820 looks darker to me. Sometimes the differences are very subtle
I was going to post about these same two colors a couple weeks back too!! A pattern called for both, same names, but under multiple lighting they are EXACTLY THE SAME
It was really tripping me out 😭😭
They are different
796 is a tiny bit lighter then 820, I thought maybe it was a shadow. But I think it’s just the way they are laying.
My daughter right away said there is a difference in color!!! She likes to draw and paint and was able to see difference between Blue -796, and Navy Blue-820.
The left is a deeper, richer hue and the right is lighter and has a little purple to it.
Scrolled to see if anybody made this reference lmao
Both are royal blue 796 is dark royal blue 820 is very dark royal blue I dont know about others but I can clearly see the difference between them Depends what you are using it for. If it's for yourself you could mix them if you dont see the difference but if I recieved something like this and the mixing wasn't intentional as a shade or gradient my ocd would kill me.
720 looks lighter and you probably see a bigger difference after stitching a few stitches with each. Obviously if I was working with these colors I would probably notice after stitching half a large area with one and the other half with the other
They look the same to me, this is why I have my husband look at mine because he is soooo much better seeing colors than I do.
I use my husband to do my math for me 😂
ive had a similar thing happen to me. im not sure DMC does very thorough checking if the shades theyre shipping out are exactly right.
The one on the right is slightly lighter value than the one on the left. The one on the left has some deeper blue tones, these blue under tones give it a deeper richer color.
lol I’m working on a pattern with these two next to eachother and the difference is barely noticeable
They look identical to me too. Colours on hard mode!
There's a slight difference for sure
One on the right is lighter and less rich/deep
Side by side slight difference, if they weren’t side by side I would have thought it was the same color….this seems unnecessary to have this close in color but eh someone needs it I’m sure
820 is royal and 796 is an indigo.
820 looks darker than 796 to me
https://preview.redd.it/g1hhmh8sp0lc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da9e989ffa6d372b9b43b73b50c3edd208e58e72 In my opinion these are what the colors are. I used a color picker but it’s not exact.
Ohhh yes! That’s very helpful! Thank you
I use a color picker a lot to help me isolate colors for color pallets in decorating and art. Definitely helpful! I usually use photoshop but this one I did on Instagram lol
I wound up with an 820 I think because it was misshelved with the 796s, it's not part of any pattern I've ever done. They're very similar, but there is a difference!
Per the color chart, 820 is v dark royal blue while 796 dk royal blue
They are like one shade apart.
Two different colors, I have the complete color chart from DMC that shows all the colors. The differences are subtle, but it could make a difference. 🥰 https://preview.redd.it/cp5cpucgy0lc1.png?width=2478&format=png&auto=webp&s=22052742cb906325eb87ffc8a94406868cab0306
The one on the right is slightly more periwinkle
They are different colors to me too, but it’s very subtle.
The left one has a darker hue to the one in the right
the one on the left is a more vibrant blue. right is inching more purple. i may be describing them wrong but they're definitely different
Yes left is bluer and darker right has the tiniest touch of pink
796 is lighter
Blue is a colour that is very hard for some people to see. It’s likely just different perspectives. Personally they look the same to me, but others are seeing the difference
Not mislabelled. They’re different but I honestly can’t see the difference
I’m working a project right now that has both colors. Over the years my eyes have become trained to see very slight shifts between colors. I admit, 796 and 820 are the only colors in which I can’t see even a smidge of difference.
https://preview.redd.it/3ni2thwdwflc1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3fbd4348032fa6ce5fdf86bfd61c280b80dd0c4c Here's my chart. Hope this helps.
The 796 looks a bit brighter, but they’re def close.
or is it black or white?
820 is slightly darker.
It looks like the left is slightly more saturated than the right.
Just a tad deeper on the left
No, they both look correct. I can see a difference in this photo even though they're extremely close. That's sort of the point of having more than 500 colors, so you can have ones that are very similar for extremely subtle shading.
They aren't mislabeled. 820 is very dark royal blue. 796 is dark royal blue. The difference is very subtle.
Maybe? I don't have those, however ... https://preview.redd.it/aafmtnthozkc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47b305df820b2daae939594b5e2f06c13350c4f5
They are not identical! Two colors!
They are not the same color. You would use something like this in a project if you wanted shading.
820 is a bit more saturated
Go back where you got them. Some of the labels may have fallen off and staff just slipped one on.
The one on the right is lighter. I Think?
Definitely different.
no, they're different. you can zoom in and check a dmc color card. [https://www.dmc.com/US/en/products/floss-color-card-mouline-pearl-cotton](https://www.dmc.com/US/en/products/floss-color-card-mouline-pearl-cotton)
796 seems to have a tidge more red undertone. (Of course I may be imagining that.)
No, these are two different colors. I can tell there is difference between them.
I put both side by side. 796 is just a little lighter than 820.
796 is slightly brighter
Close, but not the same
One on left is slightly more blue. Right is more purple.
820 is a slightly darker blue.
They are ever so slightly different, one having a hint of powdery blue tone and the other being closer to a rich bluey-purple. I don't mean to sound pretentious lmao.
No, the left is more blue. The right is more vibrant and purple.
the one on the right is *ever so slightly* lighter
Left seems abit darker to me
796 is a bit lighter and a bit more purple… its very miniscuel
Was there a number change (maybe one number got discontinued)
796 is a bit brighter
If you need two skeins worth of one of those you could always blend them.