Can prestidigitation change the color of materials?

[sorcererlover]

If not which spell can?

I want to dye clothes into different colors.
I want to change steel so it looks like gold yet its steel so its usable in combat.
I want to change rocks so it looks like gold and fool goblins.

[hamishspence]

Prestidigitation can colour items, but it can't change their texture, and the colour change only lasts 1 hour.

Thus, gold-coloured rocks would probably be a bit less convincing-looking than gold-coloured steel.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Permanently dying clothes might be easier with store bought dyes or with a skill check like knowledge(nature) or survival to find an appropriate plant or animal to extract them from and maybe an intelligence roll (to prevent it from becoming a trained only skill like alchemy) and an hour time or something to cook it out? Although I'm sure there is a spell that has exactly the effect you're looking for plus permanency for less cost than an actual permanent prestidigitation, I just don't know it.

[Oracle71]

Adapt the color spell from the BECMI edition. It permanently changes a materials color permanently like you want.

[BowStreetRunner]

The lowest level I can think of to do this permanently would be Permanent Image (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/permanentImage.htm), a 6th level spell.

[Elkad]

Can anyone think of a reason a spell to do this would be more than 1st level?

Color Shift, Transmutation
L1 Wizard, Sorc, whoever else.
Casting Time, 1 round
Duration, Instantaneous.
Material component: rare pigments worth 10gp per cubic foot of material.
Range: Touch
Target: One unattended object

Effect: Item of up to 1 cubic foot per caster level changes color permanently.
This does not change texture, hardness, or any other characteristics of the material.
Complex patterns may require an appropriate Crafting check.

[Arcanist]

I want to dye clothes into different colors.
I want to change steel so it looks like gold yet its steel so its usable in combat.
I want to change rocks so it looks like gold and fool goblins.

While you don't necessarily need magic to dye clothes for that, prestidigitation has you covered.

There is actual magic gold you can use for combat in Magic of Faerun. Makes you heavy as all sin, but it is indeed golden. Otherwise, just say your armor is gold (but in reality it is just gold plated or painted gold), otherwise you can always just use prestidigitation ever hour to make it keep that Golden sheen. On a personal note? I'd totally go this route if only because it sounds the coolest.

You don't even need paint or anything else to do that. With the power of Bluff, you can convince those Goblins that there is a gold mine somewhere and when they go charging in, just cave in the entrance and bam you're done. Alternatively if you're dead set on using rocks, you can always just use prestidigitation to make it look like gold, or even just make gold (albeit crude and artificial looking) out of thin air and just get through with bluff.

So yes, Prestidigitation can do all of those things and more, but you can also just write "x ranks into bluff" and write on your sheet "wears gold plated armor" and skip the entire Prestidigitation step all together.