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Hexadecimal Colours
Working out colour codes for websites
When you're adding a color to your Web page with HTML, sometimes you can just type in the name of the color (White, Red, Yellow, etc.) Usually, however, you'll need to use what's called the Hexadecimal (Hex) Color Code.
You can specify colors in values from 0 (None) to 255, Fully Saturated, Pure Color.
The codes are called a TRIPLET , or group of THREE Hex Numbers. The first tells the browser how much RED, the Second, how much GREEN and the Third, how much BLUE
# RR GG BB
255 (FF in Hex) is "All the Color You Can Get"
Therefore, Pure Red is #FF0000 and Pure Blue is #0000FF
Web browsers can only directly display 216 colors.
These will all have Hex Values of either 00, 33, 66, 99, CC or FF.
Other colors are rendered using a process called "Dithering." Dithering is when a web browser ATTEMPTS to match a color not in its pallette by 'Mixing' other colors. The result can appear "Speckled" and when used in a GIF file, dithering can severly increase the file size. It is therefore recommended that you stick with the native browser pallette displayed in this table (click here to view).
To understand more about why we use hex colours, click here to read an indepth explanation.
Other useful tools and articles:
Understand dithering and nondithering colours: this article explains why some colours are displayed differently on other computers.
Well Styled: this is a great tool - I wish I'd found it earlier!
Mundi Design: useful for finding the colours you want.
