Hexadecimal Paint Chip Samples

You can use millions of colors using the rgb hex numbering system. RGB stands for RedGreenBlue. And just like paint, you can mix these primary colors and achieve virtually any color you desire. However, in the digital world you have a finite number of colors in the pallet - 16,777,216.

You have 256 shades of each primary color. 256³=16,777,216.

in HTML you would set the font color like this: <font color="#rrggbb">
<font color="#ffcc00">Colored Text for rrggbb=ffcc00</font> and get this Colored Text for rrggbb=ffcc00
in many BBS, you set the font color like this: \rgb{rrggbb,text}
\rgb{ffcc00,Colored Text for rrggbb=ffcc00} and get this Colored Text for rrggbb=ffcc00
where rrggbb matches the appropriate mix of colors.

Just keep in mind that many people are colored blind. If you use too many colors, some in your audience will not even know you posted. Also, some folks have computers not set for millions of colors. So They may get a different color than your intention. And still others refuse to allow the web page to override their preference colors. Reserve special colors for special occasions.

The paint chips below represent just six shades of each primary color (6x6x6=216). You can get other colors simply by changing the numbers slightly. But remember the numbers are in hex, not decimal. So when counting, the number just beyond "9₁₆" is "a₁₆", not 10. "10₁₆" is just beyond "f₁₆". See the bottom of this page for a quick hex lesson.

Why did I use these six shades of each primary color? These 216 mixes are called the non-dithering colors. It means regardless of PC or Mac, they should appear the same (assuming the user hasn't really messed up the monitor settings. It also means the colors should not appear "pixeled" but as one constant hue. These are the best choice for most applications.

If you are one of those who just has to see more...Triple the shades for each primary color and you get 18x18x18=5,832. flavors. This paint chip file is about 232KB. It will take a little while to load and render the colors. So DON'T CLICK HERE! unless you have time to kill.

Colors can be defined in the RGB numbering scheme. Each of the RGB can contain 256 variations. The numbering scheme ranges from 0,0,0 to 255,255,255. However, you must represent them in hexadecimal (Base₁₆). So, they range from 0,0,0 to ff,ff,ff. Not very user friendly. Here's how you can convert to decimal (Base₁₀).

Base100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Base160 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  A  B  C  D  E  F

Base1016 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Base1610 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F 20