🎨 Color Picker - Get HEX, RGB, HSL Values
Our free online color picker tool helps you choose colors and instantly get their HEX, RGB, and HSL values. Perfect for web designers, developers, graphic designers, and anyone working with digital colors. Simply pick a color and copy its code in any format you need.
About Color Picker
A color picker is an essential tool for anyone working with digital design, web development, or graphic design. Our tool provides instant color values in multiple formats, making it easy to use colors consistently across your projects. Whether you're designing a website, creating graphics, or developing an app, having accurate color codes is crucial for maintaining brand consistency and visual harmony.
How to Use the Color Picker Tool
Using our color picker is incredibly simple. Click on the color input to open your browser's native color picker, or manually enter a HEX color code. As soon as you select a color, you'll instantly see its values in HEX, RGB, and HSL formats. Click the "Copy" button next to any format to copy it to your clipboard. You can then paste the color code directly into your CSS, HTML, design software, or any other application that accepts color values.
Understanding Color Formats
HEX (Hexadecimal)
HEX color codes are the most commonly used format in web design. They consist of a hash symbol (#) followed by six hexadecimal digits. The format is #RRGGBB, where RR represents red, GG represents green, and BB represents blue. Each pair can range from 00 to FF (0-255 in decimal). For example, #FF0000 is pure red, #00FF00 is pure green, and #0000FF is pure blue. HEX codes are widely supported across all browsers and design tools.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
RGB is an additive color model where colors are created by combining red, green, and blue light. Values range from 0 to 255 for each channel. The format is rgb(red, green, blue). For example, rgb(255, 0, 0) is red, rgb(0, 255, 0) is green, and rgb(0, 0, 255) is blue. RGB is intuitive because it directly represents how screens display colors. It's commonly used in CSS and programming languages.
HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness)
HSL is a more intuitive color model for humans. Hue is the color type (0-360 degrees on the color wheel), saturation is the color intensity (0-100%), and lightness is how light or dark the color is (0-100%). For example, hsl(0, 100%, 50%) is pure red. HSL makes it easier to create color variations – you can easily make a color lighter, darker, or more saturated by adjusting just one value. This is particularly useful for creating color schemes and themes.
Common Use Cases
Web Development: Get exact color codes for CSS styling, ensuring your website's colors match your design specifications perfectly. Web developers use color pickers to maintain consistent branding across all pages and components.
Graphic Design: Match colors from existing designs or create new color palettes. Designers use color pickers to ensure color consistency between different design tools and export formats.
Brand Identity: Document brand colors in multiple formats for use across different platforms and applications. Marketing teams use color pickers to maintain brand consistency.
UI/UX Design: Create accessible color combinations and test contrast ratios. Designers use color pickers to ensure their interfaces meet accessibility standards.
Digital Art: Select precise colors for digital illustrations and paintings. Artists use color pickers to match colors from reference images or create custom color palettes.
Color Theory Basics
Understanding color theory helps you create harmonious and effective designs. Complementary colors (opposite on the color wheel) create high contrast and vibrant looks. Analogous colors (next to each other on the wheel) create harmonious, comfortable designs. Triadic color schemes use three equally spaced colors on the wheel for balanced, vibrant designs. Monochromatic schemes use variations of a single hue for sophisticated, cohesive looks.
Why Choose Multiple Color Formats?
Different tools and platforms prefer different color formats. CSS accepts HEX, RGB, and HSL, but some developers prefer one over another for readability. Design software like Photoshop and Illustrator often use RGB values. Print designers work with CMYK, though our tool focuses on screen colors. Having all three formats available ensures compatibility with any workflow or tool you're using. You can quickly switch between formats without manual conversion.
Color Accessibility
When choosing colors for web design, consider accessibility. Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background colors to meet WCAG guidelines. A contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 is recommended for normal text, and 3:1 for large text. Tools like contrast checkers can help you verify your color choices meet accessibility standards. Consider color blindness – about 8% of men and 0.5% of women have some form of color vision deficiency.
Tips for Effective Color Selection
Start with your brand's primary color and build a palette around it. Use HSL to create variations – adjust lightness for tints and shades, saturation for vibrancy. Limit your palette to 3-5 main colors to avoid visual chaos. Test colors on different screens and devices as they may appear differently. Consider cultural color associations – colors have different meanings in different cultures. Use color psychology to evoke desired emotions and responses from your audience.
Privacy and Security
Your privacy is important. This color picker tool runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. We don't collect, store, or transmit any data about the colors you select or any other information. All color conversions happen locally on your device. You can use this tool completely offline once the page is loaded. No registration, login, or personal information is required.