How to Formulate Colors

Color Formulation

The default colors are black text on a white background (like this). You add color to your document, using the style attribute with the properties color for text, and background-color for background. See the section on Style. Here we discuss only how to formulate colors.

Named Colors

A few colors can be referred to by name. Those names which are safe to use with all browsers, are shown in the next table. Other colors are more reliably described using numbers.

The 8 safe named colors.

red

lime

blue

yellow

fuchsia

magenta

aqua

cyan

white

black

How to Formulate Colors

Colors are produced by the use of differing quantities of red, green (or lime), and blue light. The amount of light is described by a number ranging from 0 to 255, or in hexadecimal, 0 to ff. Thus the color black, which corresponds to no light can be described by the numbers 0,0,0. The property:value combination is:

color:rgb(0,0,0)

or in hexadecimal:

color:#000000

Two digits must be used for each hexadecimal number, since the browser breaks the combined number down into three parts. The 3 parts determine determine how much red, lime, and blue light the browser will use.

Of interest are the shades of gray which are produced by using equal amounts of each color of light.

Shades of Gray Using Hexadecimal Numbers

000000

333333

666666

999999

cccccc

ffffff

Browser Safe Colors

Browser safe colors are the 216 colors formed by using the hexadecimal numbers 00, 33, 66, 99, cc, and ff to form colors. These are shown in the next set of tables. Other color numbers can be used, but they may be rounded by some browsers, or dithered by others.

The 216 Browser Safe Colors

Red = 00

	Blue = 00	Blue = 33	Blue = 66	Blue = 99	Blue = cc	Blue = ff
Lime = 00	000000	000033	000066	000099	0000cc	0000ff
Lime = 33	003300	003333	003366	003399	0033cc	0033ff
Lime = 66	006600	006633	006666	006699	0066cc	0066ff
Lime = 99	009900	009933	009966	009999	0099cc	0099ff
Lime = cc	00cc00	00cc33	00cc66	00cc99	00cccc	00ccff
Lime = ff	00ff00	00ff33	00ff66	00ff99	00ffcc	00ffff

Red = 33

	Blue = 00	Blue = 33	Blue = 66	Blue = 99	Blue = cc	Blue = ff
Lime = 00	330000	330033	330066	330099	3300cc	3300ff
Lime = 33	333300	333333	333366	333399	3333cc	3333ff
Lime = 66	336600	336633	336666	336699	3366cc	3366ff
Lime = 99	339900	339933	339966	339999	3399cc	3399ff
Lime = cc	33cc00	33cc33	33cc66	33cc99	33cccc	33ccff
Lime = ff	33ff00	33ff33	33ff66	33ff99	33ffcc	33ffff

Red = 66

	Blue = 00	Blue = 33	Blue = 66	Blue = 99	Blue = cc	Blue = ff
Lime = 00	660000	660033	660066	660099	6600cc	6600ff
Lime = 33	663300	663333	663366	663399	6633cc	6633ff
Lime = 66	666600	666633	666666	666699	6666cc	6666ff
Lime = 99	669900	669933	669966	669999	6699cc	6699ff
Lime = cc	66cc00	66cc33	66cc66	66cc99	66cccc	66ccff
Lime = ff	66ff00	66ff33	66ff66	66ff99	66ffcc	66ffff

Red = 99

	Blue = 00	Blue = 33	Blue = 66	Blue = 99	Blue = cc	Blue = ff
Lime = 00	990000	990033	990066	990099	9900cc	9900ff
Lime = 33	993300	993333	993366	993399	9933cc	9933ff
Lime = 66	996600	996633	996666	996699	9966cc	9966ff
Lime = 99	999900	999933	999966	999999	9999cc	9999ff
Lime = cc	99cc00	99cc33	99cc66	99cc99	99cccc	99ccff
Lime = ff	99ff00	99ff33	99ff66	99ff99	99ffcc	99ffff

Red = cc

	Blue = 00	Blue = 33	Blue = 66	Blue = 99	Blue = cc	Blue = ff
Lime = 00	cc0000	cc0033	cc0066	cc0099	cc00cc	cc00ff
Lime = 33	cc3300	cc3333	cc3366	cc3399	cc33cc	cc33ff
Lime = 66	cc6600	cc6633	cc6666	cc6699	cc66cc	cc66ff
Lime = 99	cc9900	cc9933	cc9966	cc9999	cc99cc	cc99ff
Lime = cc	cccc00	cccc33	cccc66	cccc99	cccccc	ccccff
Lime = ff	ccff00	ccff33	ccff66	ccff99	ccffcc	ccffff

Red = ff

	Blue = 00	Blue = 33	Blue = 66	Blue = 99	Blue = cc	Blue = ff
Lime = 00	ff0000	ff0033	ff0066	ff0099	ff00cc	ff00ff
Lime = 33	ff3300	ff3333	ff3366	ff3399	ff33cc	ff33ff
Lime = 66	ff6600	ff6633	ff6666	ff6699	ff66cc	ff66ff
Lime = 99	ff9900	ff9933	ff9966	ff9999	ff99cc	ff99ff
Lime = cc	ffcc00	ffcc33	ffcc66	ffcc99	ffcccc	ffccff
Lime = ff	ffff00	ffff33	ffff66	ffff99	ffffcc	ffffff