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Colors Tutorial: CSS Color Values
Colors Tutorial: CSS Color Values
By color names
As RGB values
As hexadecimal values
As HSL values (CSS3)
As HWB values (CSS4)
RGB Colors
RGB color values are supported in all browsers.
Each parameter defines the intensity of the color as an integer between 0 and
255.
Example
rgb(255,0,0) Red
rgb(0,255,0) Green
rgb(0,0,255) Blue
Try it Yourself »
Shades of gray are often defined using equal values for all the 3 light sources:
Example
rgb(0,0,0) Black
rgb(128,128,128) Gray
rgb(255,255,255) White
Try it Yourself »
Hexadecimal Colors
Hexadecimal color values are also supported in all browsers.
Example
Try it Yourself »
Shades of gray are often defined using equal values for all the 3 light sources:
Example
Try it Yourself »
Upper Case or Lower Case?
You can use upper case or lower case letters to specify hexadecimal values.
Lower case are easier to write. Upper case are easier to read.
Color Names
CSS supports 140 standard color names.
In the next chapter you will find a complete alphabetical list of color names with
hexadecimal values:
AliceBlue #F0F8FF
AntiqueWhite #FAEBD7
Aqua #00FFFF
Aquamarine #7FFFD4
Azure #F0FFFF
Beige #F5F5DC
Bisque #FFE4C4
Most modern monitors are capable of displaying at least 16384 different colors
This is not important now, since most computers can display millions of different
colors.
This 216 hex values cross-browser color palette was created to ensure that all
computers would display the colors correctly when running a 256 color palette:
RGB Colors
RGB color values are supported in all browsers.
Each parameter (red, green, and blue) defines the intensity of the color as an
integer between 0 and 255.
For example, rgb(0, 0, 255) is rendered as blue, because the blue parameter is
set to its highest value (255) and the others are set to 0.
<style>
div {
background-color: rgb(0, 191, 255);
color: rgb(255, 255, 255);
}
</style>
Hexadecimal Colors
Hexadecimal color values are also supported in all browsers.
For example, #0000FF is displayed as blue, because the blue component is set
to its highest value (FF) and the others are set to 00.
HSL Colors
HSL color values are supported in IE9+, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and in Opera
10+.
Hue
Hue is a degree on the color wheel from 0 to 360. 0 is red, 120 is green, 240 is
blue.
Saturation
Saturation is a percentage value; 0% means a shade of gray and 100% is the
full color
Lightness
Lightness is also a percentage; 0% is black, 100% is white
HSL color values are supported in all major browsers.
Example
<style>
div {
background-color: hsl(180, 50%, 50%);
color: hsl(0, 0%, 100%);
}
</style>
Colors HWB
HWB (Hue, Whiteness, Blackness) is a suggested standard for CSS4.
Colors CMYK
CMYK is a suggested standard for CSS4.
CMYK Colors
CMYK colors is a combination of CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW , and BLACK.
Computer screens display colors using RGB color values. Printers often presents
colors using CMYK color values.
HTML Support
CMYK is not supported in HTML, but it is suggested as a new standard in CSS4
This tutorial covers the parts that are most useful for web design:
Moses Harris worked with paint (Newton worked with light) following a theory
(by a French painter) that all colors are mixtures of Red, Yellow, and Blue
pigments.
Color Systems
In this tutorial we will cover 3 different color systems:
Primary colors can not be produced by mixing other colors a color system.
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are made by mixing two primary colors in a color system
Note that mixing the primary colors of CMY produces the primary colors of light
(RGB)
Red-Orange
Yellow-Orange
Yellow-Green
Blue-Green
Blue-Purple
Red-Purple
Color Wheels
Color Hue
Hue is just another word for color.
Simply put: Each position around the color wheel represents a different hue
Color Saturation
Saturation is about intensity.
Highly saturated colors are bright. Desaturated colors have less pigment.
Color Schemes
Color schemes are logical combinations of colors on the color wheel.
The black on white achromatic color scheme is the default color scheme for a
web page.
The white on black achromatic color scheme is often preferred for smaller
devices.
White on black requires less energy (improves battery life) on most display
technologies.
Monochromatic color schemes are easy to create because they use only one
color.
Monochromatic schemes use different tones from the same angle on the color
wheel (the same hue).
Analogous color schemes are created by using colors that are next to each other
on the color wheel.
Triadic
Triadic schemes are made up of hues equally spaced around color wheel.
Instead of using colors that are opposites, it uses colors on both sides of the
opposite hue.
Color Psychology
Colors can influence human behavior.
Colors can influence human perceptions.
Colors can influence the taste of food.
Colors can influence attractiveness.
The Perception of Colors
GREEN
RED Blac Whit Gray BLUE Yellow
k e
Green is
Red the Grey is Blue is the Yellow is a
attracts most Conservat most used Happy
the restful Black is White is ive office color Color
human color Authori Purity
Sea Sunshi
eye ty and Security
Nature Myster Cleanlin
Energy y Reliabilit
Fertility
ess
y Water ne
Power Freshne Autho Neutralit Ocean
Strengt ss y Classic Depth Light
rity Knowledg Wealth
h New Clarity
Excitem Growth
Power Goodnes e Energy
ent
Eleganc s Quality Warmth
Safety Professio
e
Danger Formali Innocen
nal Stability Optimism
Good ty ce Wisdom Conservati
Fire Health sm Happiness
Blood Healing Productivit Positivity
Myster
Urgency Power y Cheerfulnes
y s
Traffic Free Wisdom
Stop Traffic Intelligenc Youngfulne
Evil ss
e
Fear
Passion Harmony Death
Appetite Peace
Sky
Emotion Easines
Love s Truth
Calmnes Peace
s Heaven