Color Picker - HTML Color Codes, RGB, HEX Picker Tool
Professional color picker with support for HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, and CMYK formats. Generate color palettes, check WCAG contrast ratios, pick colors from images, and create beautiful gradients. Perfect for designers and developers.
Color Picker
Select and customize your color
Color Variations
Explore different variations of your color
Palette Generator
Generate color palettes automatically
Gradient Generator
Create beautiful CSS gradients
Accessibility Checker
WCAG contrast ratio compliance
Sample Text
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
3.68
Contrast Ratio
WCAG AA
WCAG AAA
WCAG Guidelines: AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text, AAA requires 7:1. Large text (18pt+) requires 3:1 (AA) and 4.5:1 (AAA).
Image Color Picker
Extract colors from any image
Color History
Favorites
No favorites yet
Features
Quick Guide
Color Models
HEX for web, RGB for screens, CMYK for print, HSL/HSV for intuitive adjustments
Color Harmonies
Use complementary for contrast, analogous for harmony, triadic for balance
Accessibility
Always check contrast ratios. Aim for AA (4.5:1) or better for text
Complete Guide to Color Theory & Tools
Understanding Color Models
Different color models serve different purposes in design and development. Understanding when to use each model is crucial for effective color management across various media and applications.
HEX (Hexadecimal)
The standard format for web colors. Represents RGB values in hexadecimal notation (#RRGGBB). Easy to copy, paste, and use in CSS. Format: #000000 to #FFFFFF.
Example: #3b82f6 (blue)
RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
Additive color model used by screens and digital displays. Each channel ranges from 0-255. Intuitive for understanding color composition. Supports alpha channel for transparency.
Example: rgb(59, 130, 246)
HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness)
Intuitive model for human perception. Hue (0-360°) determines the color, Saturation (0-100%) determines intensity, Lightness (0-100%) determines brightness. Easiest for creating variations.
Example: hsl(217, 91%, 60%)
CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
Subtractive color model used in printing. Each value (0-100%) represents ink density. Essential for print design. Black (K) channel improves print quality.
Example: cmyk(76, 47, 0, 4)
Choosing Colors for Web Design
Effective color selection is fundamental to creating visually appealing and functional websites. Your color choices affect brand perception, user experience, and conversion rates. Here's how to approach color selection strategically.
1. Start with Brand Identity
Choose a primary brand color that reflects your identity. Blue conveys trust (banks, tech), green suggests growth (finance, health), red evokes urgency (sales, food), purple implies creativity (art, beauty). Use color psychology to align with your message and target audience.
2. Build a Color Palette
Create a 3-5 color palette: primary (brand color), secondary (complementary or analogous), accent (call-to-action), neutrals (backgrounds, text). Use the 60-30-10 rule: 60% dominant color, 30% secondary, 10% accent for visual balance.
3. Consider Color Harmonies
Complementary colors (opposite on color wheel) create vibrant contrast. Analogous colors (adjacent) provide harmony. Triadic colors (equally spaced) offer balance. Monochromatic variations ensure consistency. Test different combinations to find what works for your design.
4. Test Across Devices
Colors appear differently on various screens. Test your palette on multiple devices, monitors, and in different lighting conditions. Consider how colors render in dark mode. Ensure consistency across platforms and maintain brand recognition regardless of viewing context.
Color Accessibility Considerations
Accessible color choices ensure your content is readable by everyone, including users with visual impairments. Following WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) isn't just best practice—it's often legally required and always ethically important.
WCAG Contrast Requirements
- Level AA (Minimum): 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text (18pt+ or 14pt+ bold)
- Level AAA (Enhanced): 7:1 for normal text, 4.5:1 for large text
- UI Components: 3:1 minimum contrast for interactive elements and graphics
- Testing: Always test color combinations with accessibility tools before launch
Don't Rely on Color Alone
Never use color as the only way to convey information. Add icons, text labels, or patterns to ensure color-blind users can understand your content. About 8% of men and 0.5% of women have some form of color blindness.
Test for Color Blindness
Use color blindness simulators to check how your design appears to users with different types of color vision deficiency. The most common types are Protanopia (red-blind), Deuteranopia (green-blind), and Tritanopia (blue-blind).
Accessible Color Combinations
Dark text on light backgrounds and light text on dark backgrounds typically provide good contrast. Avoid red/green, blue/purple, and light gray combinations. When in doubt, use our contrast checker tool above.
Color Psychology in Design
Colors evoke emotional responses and influence user behavior. Understanding color psychology helps you make strategic design decisions that support your goals and resonate with your audience.
Red
Energy, passion, urgency, danger. Increases heart rate. Use for CTAs, sales, alerts. Caution: can signal warnings.
Blue
Trust, security, professionalism, calm. Most universally liked. Ideal for corporate, healthcare, tech, finance.
Green
Growth, health, nature, success. Associated with money. Perfect for environmental, wellness, financial services.
Orange
Enthusiasm, creativity, fun, affordability. Attention-grabbing without red's urgency. Great for CTAs, youth brands.
Purple
Luxury, creativity, wisdom, spirituality. Associated with royalty. Ideal for beauty, art, premium products.
Yellow
Optimism, happiness, warning. Grabs attention. Use sparingly as accent. Can cause eye strain if overused.
Design Tips & Best Practices
- •Limit Your Palette: Use 3-5 colors maximum. Too many colors create visual chaos and dilute your brand identity. More colors don't mean better design.
- •Create Hierarchy: Use color to guide user attention. Primary actions get accent colors, secondary actions use subdued tones, destructive actions use red.
- •Maintain Consistency: Define color variables (CSS custom properties or design tokens) and reuse them throughout your project. Consistency builds trust.
- •Use Shades and Tints: Create depth with variations of your base colors. Lighter tints for backgrounds, darker shades for hover states and borders.
- •Consider Dark Mode: Design with both light and dark themes in mind. Colors that work well in light mode may need adjustment for dark mode.
- •Test in Context: Colors interact with each other. Always preview color combinations in actual designs, not in isolation. Context matters.
- •Use Neutral Backgrounds: Let your content shine. White, light gray, or subtle off-white backgrounds (like #fafafa) work best for most interfaces.
- •Save and Document: Create a color style guide with your palette, usage rules, and accessibility notes. Export it in formats your team can easily use (CSS, SCSS, JSON).