Aiming at developing an affordable and easily implementable computational protocol for routine prediction of spectral properties of rigid molecular dyes, density functional theory, and time-dependent density functional theory were used in conjunction with a vibronic coupling scheme for band shape estimate. To predict the perceived color of molecules in solution, a model has been setup linking the UV-vis spectra predicted at ab initio level to the L*a*b* colorimetric parameters. The results show that a mixed protocol, implying the use of a global hybrid functional for the prediction of adiabatic energy differences and a range separated hybrid for the prediction of potential energy curvature, allows perceived colors to be quantitatively predicted, as demonstrated by the comparison of L*a*b* colorimetric parameters obtained from computed and experimental spectra. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.