The Definitive Guide to Hex Colors (2023)

946201038,xxmmxx

Hexadecimal colors are the visual language of the web. If you want a web page (or web application) to display a specific color, enter the hexadecimal code.

What is a hexadecimal color code?

1215017532, Calle Vlad

A hexadecimal color code is a 6-symbol code made up of up to three 2-symbol elements. Each of the 2-symbol elements expresses a color value from 0 to 255.

• Element 1: Rotterdam
• Element 2: green value
• Element 3: Blue Ort

The code is written using a formula that converts each value to a unique two-digit alphanumeric code. For example, the RGB code (224, 105, 16) is E06910 in hexadecimal code.

Why? It's complicated and has to do with the base 16 number system. If you're curiousHere is a good explanation.. If you're just wondering what all of this means to you as a designer, there are a few important things to know:

• Hexadecimal codes allow you to display more than 16 million unique colors, which is probably more than the human eye can perceive.
• you can usecolor pickeroConverterto create the code for you.

Why use hexadecimal code instead of numbers? Because if you're using numbers, any red, green, or blue value from 0 to 255 can be one, two, or three possible digits. In general, the code can consist of only three digits or up to nine digits. This can create confusion for the systems that read the codes, but especially for the people who code. If each value is six symbols, no matter what, the chance of errors is reduced.

What are hexadecimal color codes?

525330557,Thoth_Adan

Hexadecimal color codes are values ​​that tell the screen how much color to display. The values ​​are a special code that represents color values ​​from 0 to 255.

If red, green, and blue are at least 0 (represented as "00" in the code), the express color is black. If red, green, and blue are 255 or less (represented as "ff" in the code), the express color is white.

Hexadecimal color values ​​can be combined to display more than 16 million different colors. So of course most will fall somewhere in between. You can always use aConverter to convert numeric RGB values ​​into hexadecimal code for you.

However, it may help to remember some of the more common hex colors. This knowledge can be useful when designing with a real-time encoder.

Popular Hexadecimal Color Codes

Unique hexadecimal color codes

How do hex colors work?

1226241649 salman keles

Hexadecimal colors are based on the RGB color model, used since the early days of photography.

The theory behind the model is that you can create virtually any color the eye can see by assigning different combinations of red, green, and blue color values. The RGB color model is used by televisions, digital cameras, and video projectors, as well as virtually every computer and phone display out there.

The web and most digital applications use a color scale of 0 to 255. You (or a programmer) tell the screen how much red, blue, and green to display. This combination creates the color that the viewer sees.

You have a lot of freedom to choose the color you want. The total number of possible combinations is 16,777,216, more than the human eye can distinguish.

What is the difference between RGB and Hex codes?

1221544644,devastudios

Programmers prefer hexadecimal color codes because they are predictable. It is always six digits, regardless of color. RGB values ​​can be as few as three digits and up to nine digits.

You don't need to use hexadecimal codes in web design. When coding an HTML page, you can also use RGB values ​​or even color names.

For example, this is what HTML would look like if you were coding a navy blue background for a web page.

• Aquamarine hexadecimal color code:<div style="background-color:#7FFFD4″></div>
• Aqua RGB Color Code:<div style="background-color:rgb(127, 255, 212)"></div>
• Aquamarine color designation code:<div style="background-color:aquamarine"></div>

Although you can provide the RGB name or code, that doesn't mean you have to. To reduce the chance of making a mistake in your design, use a hexadecimal color picker or converter to generate the desired hexadecimal code. That way, there's less chance that a current or future developer will try to do the conversion and turn your beautiful web page into something ugly.

Work with hexadecimal colors

1203440092, Designer

If you're used to working with color in Adobe Illustrator or for print, working with hex colors on the web is a bit of a change. Here are some things to know to get your project off to a good start.

Beware of color spots

With 16,777,216 possible colors, hexadecimal color codes offer many options for contrasting colors. However, since each pixel must display a unique color, you can't mix shades of different colors very well with hex colors.

When web designers try to create gradients using hex colors, the results are not always as expected. Because the tones do not mix, the screen has different color bands (color bands).

Color streaks are more likely to appear on older devices that cannot display millions of colors. In modern CSSYou can program gradientsto eliminate the problem of colored streaks. On modern displays, color banding is more common in photos with natural gradations, such as skies and rainbows, where the millions of colors visible to the naked eye are compressed to save storage space.

Save time with hex color palette features

When you're creating a unique look on the go, choosing complementary colors from the 16 million colors available is a daunting task. Fortunately, other designers have done some of the work for you, creating databases of hexadecimal color palettes and interactive pickers.

Hex color palettes:Browse and search thousands of community-created hex color combinations athexadecimal color palettes.

To surf? Step through the named palettes page by page. Each palette has a name that gives you an idea of ​​its style and identifies the six hexadecimal colors. Click on the designer's name to see other color palettes created by the designer.

Color-Hex Color Palettes is a fantastic resource for hex color inspiration.

Cooler:Die Hex-Farbressourcecoolercombines inspiration with functionality to speed up the design process.

CanExplore the trendy color palettesto see what caught the attention of other designers. Each trend palette can be saved to a personal favorites box when you sign up for an account.

Or use theirsextremely fast palette generatorto create palettes based on the colors you want to use. A time-saving feature of Coolors is the ability to "lock" a color (or multiple colors) and then hit the spacebar to spawn additional complementary colors. New looks fly almost at the speed of light. Just wait for the one that catches your eye.

The refrigerator is also available asiOS appoadobe extension.

Combine hex colors with other design elements

If you're designing for an existing website or have other elements you want to customize, you'll need to know what hex colors you're working with on your website. This is where a good color picker is invaluable, especially when creatingeye-catching marketing materials. comimage color picker, you can upload any image and see what hex colors are represented.

Another good resource isColorPick-Pipeta, a Google Chrome browser extension that allows you to view the hexadecimal color of each element on a web page. If you're admiring a color in a certain spot, use the eyedropper to see what it is.

When choosing images and other elements for your site, you need to find an easy way to identify assets that match your hex color palette. iniStock, you can add a hexadecimal color as a filter to any search. Enter the code or select it from the color picker and enter your search terms. The site returns related images that are very similar to the color you entered.

Ready to find the ideal images for your hex color scheme?Find assets that complement your project today.