Web colors
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Template:Html series Authors of web pages have a variety of options available for specifying colors for elements of web documents. Colors may be specified as an RGB triplet in hexadecimal format (a hex triplet); they may also be specified according to their common English names in some cases.
The first versions of Mosaic and Netscape Navigator used the X11 color names as the basis for their color lists, as both started as X Window System applications. The origin of the X11 color list is unknown. [1] (http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-style/2002May/0138.html)
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Hex triplet
A hex triplet is a six-digit, three-byte hexadecimal number used in HTML and CSS, and other computing applications, to represent colors. The bytes represent the red, green and blue components of the color. One byte represents a number in the range 00 to FF (in hexadecimal notation), or 0 to 255 in decimal notation. The hex triplet is formed by concatenating three bytes in hexadecimal notation, in the following order:
- Byte 1: red value
- Byte 2: green value
- Byte 3: blue value
For example, consider the color red=36, green=104, blue=160 (a greyish-blue color). The numbers 36, 104 and 160 are 24, 68 and A0 respectively in hexadecimal notation. To obtain the hex triplet, we simply write the three hex bytes together without spaces, thus: 2468A0. If a byte is less than 10 (decimal) or 16 (hex) it must be represented with a leading zero to keep the number of digits in the triplet equal to six. For example, the decimal triplet 0,1,2 would be represented by the hex triplet 000102.
Standard color names
The HTML 4.01 specification defines sixteen named colors, as follows:
| Color | Hexadecimal | Color | Hexadecimal | Color | Hexadecimal | Color | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| black | #000000 | silver | #c0c0c0 | maroon | #800000 | red | #ff0000 |
| navy | #000080 | blue | #0000ff | purple | #800080 | fuchsia | #ff00ff |
| green | #008000 | lime | #00ff00 | olive | #808000 | yellow | #ffff00 |
| teal | #008080 | aqua | #00ffff | gray | #808080 | white | #ffffff |
Proprietary color names
In addition, a number of colors are defined by browsers such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. A particular browser may not recognize all of these colors. Many of these colors are from the list of X11 color names distributed with the X Window System. Some of them, along with their hexadecimal equivalents, are listed below.
| color | hexadecimal | color | hexadecimal |
|---|---|---|---|
| indianred | #cd5c5c | darksalmon | #e9967a |
| lightcoral | #f08080 | salmon | #fa8072 |
| orangered | #ff4500 | red | #ff0000 |
| crimson | #dc143c | firebrick | #b22222 |
| darkred | #8b0000 | mediumvioletred | #c71585 |
| pink | #ffc0cb | lightpink | #ffb6c1 |
| hotpink | #ff69b4 | deeppink | #ff1493 |
| palevioletred | #db7093 | darkkhaki | #bdb76b |
| khaki | #f0e68c | palegoldenrod | #eee8aa |
| lightgoldenrodyellow | #fafad2 | lightyellow | #ffffe0 |
| lemonchiffon | #fffacd | yellow | #ffff00 |
| gold | #ffd700 | papayawhip | #ffefd5 |
| moccasin | #ffe4b5 | peachpuff | #ffdab9 |
| cyan | #00ffff | aqua | #00ffff |
| aquamarine | #7fffd4 | turquoise | #40e0d0 |
| mediumturquoise | #48d1cc | darkturquoise | #00ced1 |
| cadetblue | #5f9ea0 | slategray | #708090 |
| lightcyan | #e0ffff | paleturquoise | #afeeee |
| powderblue | #b0e0e6 | lightsteelblue | #b0c4de |
| steelblue | #4682b4 | lightblue | #add8e6 |
| skyblue | #87ceeb | lightskyblue | #87cefa |
| deepskyblue | #00bfff | cornflowerblue | #6495ed |
| royalblue | #4169e1 | mediumslateblue | #7b68ee |
| dodgerblue | #1e90ff | blue | #0000ff |
| mediumblue | #0000cd | darkblue | #00008b |
| navy | #000080 | midnightblue | #191970 |
| lightsalmon | #ffa07a | orange | #ffa500 |
| darkorange | #ff8c00 | coral | #ff7f50 |
| tomato | #ff6347 | orangered | #ff4500 |
| aquamarine | #7fffd4 | mediumspringgreen | #00fa9a |
| springgreen | #00ff7f | palegreen | #98fb98 |
| greenyellow | #adff2f | chartreuse | #7fff00 |
| lawngreen | #7cfc00 | lime | #00ff00 |
| lightgreen | #90ee90 | yellowgreen | #9acd32 |
| limegreen | #32cd32 | mediumseagreen | #3cb371 |
| darkseagreen | #8fbc8f | forestgreen | #228b22 |
| seagreen | #2e8b57 | green | #008000 |
| olivedrab | #6b8e23 | olive | #808000 |
| darkolivegreen | #556b2f | darkgreen | #006400 |
| mediumaquamarine | #66cdaa | turquoise | #40e0d0 |
| lightseagreen | #20b2aa | darkcyan | #008b8b |
| teal | #008080 | lavender | #e6e6fa |
| thistle | #d8bfd8 | plum | #dda0dd |
| violet | #ee82ee | fuchsia | #ff00ff |
| magenta | #ff00ff | orchid | #da70d6 |
| mediumorchid | #ba55d3 | darkorchid | #9932cc |
| blueviolet | #8a2be2 | darkviolet | #9400d3 |
| mediumpurple | #9370db | slateblue | #6a5acd |
| purple | #800080 | darkmagenta | #8b008b |
| darkslateblue | #483d8b | indigo | #4b0082 |
| honeydew | #f0fff0 | mintcream | #f5fffa |
| azure | #f0ffff | aliceblue | #f0f8ff |
| ghostwhite | #f8f8ff | whitesmoke | #f5f5f5 |
| lavenderblush | #fff0f5 | mistyrose | #ffe4e1 |
| antiquewhite | #faebd7 | seashell | #fff5ee |
| snow | #fffafa | white | #ffffff |
| beige | #f5f5dc | linen | #faf0e6 |
| oldlace | #fdf5e6 | floralwhite | #fffaf0 |
| ivory | #fffff0 | gainsboro | #dcdcdc |
| lightgrey | #d3d3d3 | silver | #c0c0c0 |
| darkgray | #a9a9a9 | gray | #808080 |
| dimgray | #696969 | darkslategray | #2f4f4f |
| lightslategray | #778899 | slategray | #708090 |
| cornsilk | #fff8dc | blanchedalmond | #ffebcd |
| bisque | #ffe4c4 | navajowhite | #ffdead |
| wheat | #f5deb3 | sandybrown | #f4a460 |
| goldenrod | #daa520 | darkgoldenrod | #b8860b |
| peru | #cd853f | chocolate | #d2691e |
| maroon | #800000 | saddlebrown | #8b4513 |
| brown | #a52a2a | sienna | #a0522d |
| darkred | #8b0000 | burlywood | #deb887 |
| tan | #d2b48c | rosybrown | #bc8f8f |
| black | #000000 |
Web-safe colors
Another set of 216 color values are commonly considered to be the "web-safe" color palette; developed at a time when many computer displays were only capable of displaying only 256 colors. A set of colors was needed that could be shown without dithering on 256-color displays; the number 216 was chosen partly because computer operating systems customarily reserved sixteen to twenty colors for their own use; it was also selected because it allows exactly six shades each of red, green, and blue. (6 × 6 × 6 = 216). The palette was first identified by Lynda Weinman.
The "web-safe" colors do not have names, but each can be specified by an RGB triplet. In the table below, a three-digit number is used as a shorthand notation for the six-digit hexadecimal numerals above. The digit "3" is equivalent to the hexadecimal numeral "33"; "C" is equivalent to "CC". For example, "F63" in the table below is equivalent to "#FF6633" in the system used previously. This table shows all of the "web-safe" colors, underlining the really-safe (see next section) colors:
| 000 | 300 | 600 | 900 | C00 | F00 | 003 | 303 | 603 | 903 | C03 | F03 |
| 006 | 306 | 606 | 906 | C06 | F06 | 009 | 309 | 609 | 909 | C09 | F09 |
| 00C | 30C | 60C | 90C | C0C | F0C | 00F | 30F | 60F | 90F | C0F | F0F |
| 030 | 330 | 630 | 930 | C30 | F30 | 033 | 333 | 633 | 933 | C33 | F33 |
| 036 | 336 | 636 | 936 | C36 | F36 | 039 | 339 | 639 | 939 | C39 | F39 |
| 03C | 33C | 63C | 93C | C3C | F3C | 03F | 33F | 63F | 93F | C3F | F3F |
| 060 | 360 | 660 | 960 | C60 | F60 | 063 | 363 | 663 | 963 | C63 | F63 |
| 066 | 366 | 666 | 966 | C66 | F66 | 069 | 369 | 669 | 969 | C69 | F69 |
| 06C | 36C | 66C | 96C | C6C | F6C | 06F | 36F | 66F | 96F | C6F | F6F |
| 090 | 390 | 690 | 990 | C90 | F90 | 093 | 393 | 693 | 993 | C93 | F93 |
| 096 | 396 | 696 | 996 | C96 | F96 | 099 | 399 | 699 | 999 | C99 | F99 |
| 09C | 39C | 69C | 99C | C9C | F9C | 09F | 39F | 69F | 99F | C9F | F9F |
| 0C0 | 3C0 | 6C0 | 9C0 | CC0 | FC0 | 0C3 | 3C3 | 6C3 | 9C3 | CC3 | FC3 |
| 0C6 | 3C6 | 6C6 | 9C6 | CC6 | FC6 | 0C9 | 3C9 | 6C9 | 9C9 | CC9 | FC9 |
| 0CC | 3CC | 6CC | 9CC | CCC | FCC | 0CF | 3CF | 6CF | 9CF | CCF | FCF |
| 0F0 | 3F0 | 6F0 | 9F0 | CF0 | FF0 | 0F3 | 3F3 | 6F3 | 9F3 | CF3 | FF3 |
| 0F6 | 3F6 | 6F6 | 9F6 | CF6 | FF6 | 0F9 | 3F9 | 6F9 | 9F9 | CF9 | FF9 |
| 0FC | 3FC | 6FC | 9FC | CFC | FFC | 0FF | 3FF | 6FF | 9FF | CFF | FFF |
Really web safe colors
Designers were often encouraged to stick to these 216 "web-safe" colors in their websites; however, 8-bit color displays are much less common now than they were when the 216-color palette was developed. David Lehn and Hadley Stern have since discovered that only 22 of the 216 colors in the web-safe palette are reliably displayed without inconsistent remapping on 16-bit computer displays. They called these 22 colors the "really safe" palette; it consists mainly of shades of green and yellow, as can be seen in the table above, where the "really safe" colors are underlined.
CSS Colors
The Cascading Style Sheets language defines the same number of named colors as the HTML 4 spec, namely the 16 listed above. Additionally, CSS 2.1 adds the 'orange' color name to the list:
| Color | Hexadecimal |
|---|---|
| orange | #ffa500 |
CSS 2 and CSS 2.1 also allow web authors to use so-called system colors, which are color names whose values are taken from the operating system. This enables web authors to style their content in line with the operating system of the user agent. See [2] (http://www.w3.org/TR/CSS21/ui.html#system-colors). As of early 2004, it appears that the CSS3 color module will once again drop these values, marking them deprecated, but this may change: [3] (http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#css2-system).
See also
External links
- Web Color Reference (http://www.webreference.com/html/reference/color/)
- Death of the Websafe Color Palette? (http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/00/37/index2a.html), an article by David Lehn and Hadley Stern
- VisiBone's "Web-Safe" Color Lab (http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/) features a more intuitive arrangement of the web-safe colors
- RGB-Color Mixer Applet (http://www.wackerart.de/mixer.html) Java-Plugin required
- Color Table (http://www.wackerart.de/rgbfarben.html) further color tables
- X11 color chart (http://www.mcfedries.com/CreatingAWebPage/x11colors.asp)
- HTML Colors (http://free.hostdepartment.com/h/htmlcolor/)
- Introduction to Color Hex Codes (http://www.online-web-design-course.com/a/1-04-01.htm) More information about color hex codes
- The Color Spot (http://www.december.com/html/spec/colorspot.html) reference information about color definitions in HTML attributes and Cascading Style Sheetsda:Web-sikre farver
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