Carbon Copy (Behr PPU25-01) vs Cracked Pepper (SW 9580)

Living room with walls painted Behr Carbon Copy PPU25-01 (simulated) — Carbon Copy Behr PPU25-01#545554, LRV 9 (estimated)

Living room with walls painted Sherwin-Williams Cracked Pepper SW 9580 (simulated) — Cracked Pepper SW 9580#483C37, LRV 5

Illustrative room. Screen colors vary; test a sample before you paint.

Quick decision

Lighter: Carbon Copy, LRV 9 vs 5.
Warmer: Cracked Pepper (Lab b* 5.0 vs 0.4). Carbon Copy reads neutral gray; Cracked Pepper reads taupe.
North rooms: Carbon Copy: keeps more brightness (L* 31.9 vs 22.5 in north light) and drifts less gray (chroma drop 0.0 vs 3.1).
Trim that works: White Glove Behr W-D-610, #F0EFED, LRV 86.4 (estimated): the Behr white closest in hue to both.
Closeness: deltaE 10.7, clearly different. At 10.7, treat them as different colors.

See each color

Carbon CopyBehr PPU25-01LRV 9 (estimated), #545554

Cracked PepperSherwin-Williams, SW 9580LRV 5, #483C37

More comparisons with Cracked Pepper

Carbon Copy (Behr PPU25-01) is slightly lighter than Cracked Pepper (SW 9580) and cooler: LRV 9 vs 5, deltaE 10.7 (clearly different).

Side by side

Measure	Carbon Copy	Cracked Pepper	Gap
Brand	Behr	Sherwin-Williams
Color code	PPU25-01	SW 9580
Hex	#545554	#483C37
RGB	84, 85, 84	72, 60, 55
HSL	120°, 1%, 33%	18°, 13%, 25%
LRV (light reflectance value)	9 (est.)	5	+4
Lab L*	36.0	26.4	+9.6
Lab a*	-0.6	4.3	−4.9
Lab b*	0.4	5.0	−4.6
Undertone	Neutral	Warm
Temperature	neutral	warm
Color family	Gray	Black

Same paint, two kinds of light

Carbon Copy (Behr PPU25-01), published as #545554

North light (cool, indirect)
#454C52

South light (warm, direct)
#635E54

Cracked Pepper (SW 9580), published as #483C37

North light (cool, indirect)
#3B3436

South light (warm, direct)
#564437

These swatches and the rooms above are a simulation, not a measurement. How the visualizer works

Which should you pick

Rules of thumb computed from the LRV and Lab values in the table above; no room test was done.

Pick Carbon Copy (Behr PPU25-01) for a small room or a north-facing room, because it is 4 LRV points lighter (9 vs 5), so it bounces back more of the limited light
Pick Carbon Copy (Behr PPU25-01) for a south-facing room, because its Lab b* is 0.4 against 5.0, so it is the cooler of the two and offsets warm direct sun
Pick Cracked Pepper (SW 9580) to warm a north-facing room, because it is the warmer of the two (Lab b* 5.0), which counters cool indirect light

Closest matches to Carbon Copy in other brands

Closest matches to Cracked Pepper in other brands

Common questions

Is Carbon Copy the same color as Cracked Pepper?: They are clearly different: a CIEDE2000 difference of 10.7. Carbon Copy and Cracked Pepper are different colors.
Which is lighter, Carbon Copy or Cracked Pepper?: Carbon Copy, with an LRV of 9 against 5.

Full pages

Related comparisons

By Paint Pairs. Color data from manufacturer specifications, via PaintDB. The most-viewed colors are checked against each manufacturer's own color page.

Published 2026-10-01. Updated 2026-10-01.

Sources: Carbon Copy: hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0); LRV is not published by Behr for this color and is estimated here from the color's own hex value; Cracked Pepper: LRV and hex as published by the manufacturer, via PaintDB (CC BY 4.0). Color differences are CIEDE2000 values computed by this site from the hex values (data snapshot 2026-10-01). Color names and codes belong to their manufacturers.