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Color Picker

Pick a color by eye or by hex code, and read it back as HEX, RGB, HSL and CMYK — all at once, all in your browser.

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Quick Answer

Pick a color — visually with the swatch, or by typing a hex code — and the tool reads it back in five formats at once: HEX, RGB, the CSS rgb() string, HSL and CMYK. The swatch is your browser's native color control, the same one your operating system shows, and every other value is computed on your device. Click any code to copy it.

What the Color Picker Does

Drag the swatch or type a hex code, and the two stay in sync — change one and the other follows. From that single color the tool shows five readouts: HEX, the three RGB channels, the ready-to-paste CSS rgb() string, HSL, and a CMYK approximation. It opens on a blue (#2563EB) so there's always something to read, and each code is click-to-copy.

The point is having every format in front of you at once. CSS usually wants hex or HSL, a canvas or image library wants the raw 0–255 numbers, and a print hand-off wants CMYK — so instead of pinging between four converters, you pick once and grab whichever notation the next tool expects.

How It Works

The swatch is the browser's native color input — the same OS color dialog applications use. By specification it always hands back a six-digit hex in lowercase, with no transparency channel, so that hex is the single source of truth for everything else on the page.

From that hex the tool does the rest locally: it splits the value into red, green and blue, folds those into the HSL cylinder, and runs the straight RGB-to-CMYK approximation. Type into the hex box instead and it accepts three- or six-digit input, adds the # for you, and repaints the swatch. Nothing is uploaded; the math runs as you click or type.

Data source & conversion logic

There's no color database and no network request. The picker reads one sRGB color from your browser's native color control (or the hex you type) and derives every other format from it in the page, using the conversions defined by the CSS Color and sRGB specifications.

  1. Step 1. Set a color — open the native color control, or type a hex code into the field.
  2. Step 2. Read it as a six-digit sRGB hex and split it into red, green and blue (0–255 each).
  3. Step 3. Convert those RGB values to HSL: hue in degrees, saturation and lightness as percentages.
  4. Step 4. Convert the same RGB to a CMYK approximation as a rough print reference.
  5. Step 5. Show all five codes and the swatch; click any code to copy it.

Technical Details

InputNative color swatch + hex field (3 or 6 digit)
Output formatsHEX, RGB, rgb(), HSL, CMYK
Color spacesRGB, 8-bit, 0–255 per channel
Total colors16,777,216 (256 × 256 × 256)
Alpha / opacityNot supported — native control has none
CMYKApproximate; screen reference, not print-ready
CopyClick any code to copy it
Where it runsEntirely in your browser

Standards & references

  • sRGB (IEC 61966-2-1) — the default color space of the web, and what a hex or RGB value actually means. Eight bits per channel gives 256 levels each and 16,777,216 colors in total.
  • CSS Color notation — the HEX, rgb() and hsl() forms the tool outputs are all defined in the CSS Color specification, so they paste straight into a stylesheet.
  • HTML color input — the native swatch returns a seven-character lowercase hex (a # plus six digits) and carries no alpha channel — it can only describe a fully opaque color.

Accuracy & Limitations

The CMYK figure is a plain mathematical approximation, not a print-ready conversion. RGB (light) and CMYK (ink) cover different ranges of color, and what actually prints depends on the press, the ink and the paper — which is why a print shop converts through an ICC profile for a specific stock. Treat the CMYK here as a ballpark, not a spec to send to a printer.

There is no transparency. The native color control can't express alpha, so you always get a fully opaque color; for an rgba() or hsla() value you add the alpha yourself.

HSL is rounded to whole degrees and percentages, so a hex → HSL → hex round-trip can land a step or two off the original. For an exact, reversible pair use the HEX and RGB converters instead.

Everything is read as sRGB. A wide-gamut color (Display P3 and similar) is treated as ordinary sRGB numbers here, not remapped.

Real-World Use Cases

Web and UI design

Grab a hex for CSS, an HSL to fine-tune, and an rgb() for a gradient stop — all from a single pick, without hopping between tools.

Print hand-off reference

Read a color's rough CMYK before sending artwork out, then confirm the exact values with your printer's ICC profile.

Coding and canvas work

Pull the 0–255 RGB numbers a canvas, game engine or image library expects, instead of hand-converting a hex.

Matching a color

Paste a hex you found somewhere, see it filled large in the swatch, and copy whatever other format you need.

When to use it — and when not to

Good for

  • Picking or inspecting a single color
  • Getting one color in several formats at once
  • Quick CSS, UI and design work
  • Learning how HEX, RGB and HSL relate

Not the best choice for

  • Building a coordinated multi-color palette
  • Checking text legibility against a background
  • Print-accurate CMYK for a real job
  • Anything needing transparency or alpha

For a coordinated set of colors, use the color palette generator; to check legibility, use the contrast checker; for transparency, add an alpha value to the rgb() or hsl() output yourself; for print, convert through your print provider's ICC profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

What color formats does the picker show?
Five at once: HEX, the three RGB channels (0–255), the CSS rgb() string, HSL (hue in degrees, saturation and lightness as percentages), and a CMYK approximation. Click any of them to copy it to your clipboard.
Can I type a hex code instead of using the swatch?
Yes. The hex field accepts a six-digit code or a three-digit shorthand, with or without the leading #. As soon as it's a valid hex the swatch repaints and all the other formats update.
Why is there no transparency or alpha option?
The browser's native color control has no alpha channel by design — it only describes a solid color. If you need transparency, take the rgb() or hsl() value here and add your own alpha to make an rgba() or hsla() color.
Is the CMYK value accurate for printing?
No, and it's not meant to be. It's a direct formula from RGB, but screens (light) and presses (ink) reproduce different ranges of color, so accurate print conversion needs an ICC profile for your specific ink and paper. Use the CMYK here as a rough guide and let your printer do the real conversion.
What's the difference between the HEX and RGB values?
None — they describe the same color two ways. HEX writes each channel as a two-digit base-16 pair (#8B5CF6), while RGB writes the same channels as decimal numbers (139, 92, 246). Hex is compact for CSS; RGB numbers are handier for code.
Does it understand three-digit hex shorthand?
Yes. A shorthand like #F90 is expanded to #FF9900 before anything is converted, because each shorthand digit simply doubles (F becomes FF, 9 becomes 99).
How do I copy a value?
Click the code you want. Each readout is a copy chip, so a single click puts that exact string on your clipboard — no select-and-drag needed.
Is my color sent anywhere?
No. The swatch reads from your browser and every conversion runs on your device. Nothing you pick or type is uploaded to or stored on a server.
What color space are these values in?
sRGB, the web's standard space, at eight bits per channel — the same space a plain hex or rgb() value assumes. Wide-gamut colors aren't remapped; they're read as ordinary sRGB numbers.
Why does the HEX show in uppercase when the native picker uses lowercase?
Only the display differs. The native control returns lowercase by specification; the tool shows the hex uppercased for readability. #8B5CF6 and #8b5cf6 are identical colors.
Can it pick a color out of an image or off my screen?
This tool picks a color value — from the swatch or a hex code — rather than sampling a pixel. To grab a color from a photo, use the image color picker, which reads pixels from an image you load.
What do the HSL numbers actually mean?
Hue is an angle on the color wheel from 0 to 360 degrees (red near 0, green near 120, blue near 240). Saturation is how vivid the color is, from 0 percent (gray) to 100 percent. Lightness runs from 0 percent (black) through 50 percent (the pure hue) to 100 percent (white).

References

The five codes are computed in-page from one sRGB color — and the CMYK is a screen approximation, not a print profile, so confirm print values with your printer's ICC profile.

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