About the Color Converter
The Color Converter lets you instantly translate any color between all major formats used in CSS, design tools, and digital art — including HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA, HSV, CMYK, and CSS named colors.
Supported Color Formats
- HEX — The standard web format. Written as #rrggbb using two hexadecimal digits per channel. When both digits in each pair are identical, a three-character shorthand like #rgb is also valid CSS.
- HEX 8 — An 8-digit hex that adds an alpha channel: #rrggbbaa. Fully supported in modern browsers and useful when you need transparency in a hex value.
- RGB / RGBA — Describes a color as red, green, and blue values from 0 to 255. RGBA adds a fourth value for alpha (0 = fully transparent, 1 = fully opaque). Widely used in CSS and design applications.
- HSL / HSLA — Hue (0–360°), Saturation (0–100%), and Lightness (0–100%). This model maps closely to how humans perceive color and makes it easy to create palettes by adjusting lightness or saturation while keeping the hue constant.
- HSV / HSB — Hue, Saturation, and Value (also called Brightness). Used by Photoshop, Figma, and most design tools for their color pickers. Unlike HSL, the "Value" channel represents the brightest possible version of the hue.
- CMYK — Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (black) — the subtractive model used in print. Converting screen colors to CMYK gives a starting point for print work, though monitor colors may not reproduce exactly in ink.
- CSS Named Colors — CSS defines 148 keyword colors like tomato, cornflowerblue, and rebeccapurple. The converter shows the matching name when your current color exactly matches one of these keywords.
How to Use
- Click the color swatch or the native color picker to visually choose a color. Use the R, G, B sliders for fine channel control.
- Type any color in the text field and press Enter or Parse. Accepted formats include hex values, rgb(), rgba(), hsl(), hsla(), and CSS color names.
- Use the Alpha slider to adjust transparency. This is reflected in RGBA, HSLA, and HEX 8 outputs.
- Browse or search all 148 CSS named colors in the panel. Clicking any color loads it instantly.
- Click the copy button next to any format to copy it to your clipboard.
Choosing the Right Format
- HEX: Best for static CSS colors and design tokens.
- RGBA: Use when you need transparency in CSS (e.g. overlays, shadows).
- HSL: Ideal for programmatically generating color scales and themes in CSS variables.
- HSV: Use when working with design tool APIs or color picker components.
- CMYK: Needed when handing off colors to a print designer or specifying Pantone equivalents.