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Colors Tutorial

Colors are displayed combining RED, GREEN, and BLUE light.


Color Names

With CSS, colors can be set by using color names:

Example

Color Name
 Red
 Orange
 Yellow
 Cyan
 Blue
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CSS Color Values

With CSS, colors can be specified in different ways:

  • By color names
  • As RGB values
  • As hexadecimal values
  • As HSL values (CSS3)
  • As HWB values (CSS4)

RGB Colors

RGB color values are supported in all browsers.

An RGB color value is specified with: rgb(red, green, blue).

Each parameter (red, green, and blue) defines the intensity of the color as an integer between 0 and 255.

For example, rgb(0,0,255) is rendered as blue, because the blue parameter is set to its highest value (255) and the others are set to 0.

Example

Color RGB Color
  rgb(255,0,0) Red
  rgb(0,255,0) Green
  rgb(0,0,255) Blue
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Shades of gray are often defined using equal values for all the 3 light sources:

Example

Color RGB Color
  rgb(0,0,0) Black
  rgb(128,128,128) Gray
  rgb(255,255,255) White
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Hexadecimal Colors

Hexadecimal color values are also supported in all browsers.

A hexadecimal color is specified with: #RRGGBB.

RR (red), GG (green) and BB (blue) are hexadecimal integers between 00 and FF specifying the intensity of the color.

For example, #0000FF is displayed as blue, because the blue component is set to its highest value (FF) and the others are set to 00.

Example

Color HEX RGB Color
  #FF0000 rgb(255,0,0) Red
  #00FF00 rgb(0,255,0) Green
  #0000FF rgb(0,0,255) Blue
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Shades of gray are often defined using equal values for all the 3 light sources:

Example

Color HEX RGB Color
  #000000 rgb(0,0,0) Black
  #808080 rgb(128,128,128) Gray
  #FFFFFF rgb(255,255,255) White
Try it Yourself »

Upper Case or Lower Case?

You can use upper case or lower case letters to specify hexadecimal values.

Lower case are easier to write. Upper case are easier to read.


Color Names

CSS supports 140 standard color names.

In the next chapter you will find a complete alphabetical list of color names with hexadecimal values:

Color Name Hex Color
AliceBlue #F0F8FF  
AntiqueWhite #FAEBD7  
Aqua #00FFFF  
Aquamarine #7FFFD4  
Azure #F0FFFF  
Beige #F5F5DC  
Bisque #FFE4C4