What’s an HTML color picker?

Print anything with Printful



An HTML color picker allows users to select specific colors from a computer display, especially when matching exact colors from real-world sources. It can also provide the hexadecimal value of a color and other useful features, such as generating color schemes. Standalone applications have more features, including the ability to isolate colors outside the program.

A HyperText Markup Language (HTML) color picker is generally a program that allows a user to review all the colors available on a computer display and then select specific colors. This is sometimes necessary because many computer monitors are capable of displaying millions of colors, and some web designers may need to match exact colors from a logo, photograph, or other real-world source. Another reason you may need an HTML color picker is that the most common way of representing a color in an HTML document or cascading style sheet (CSS) is as a hexadecimal number. A color picker makes it easy to find the exact hexadecimal value of a color and can provide other useful features.

The most basic type of HTML color picker is usually represented as a color bar next to a larger color block. The idea is to select a general color from the bar, such as yellow, and then all shades of that color will appear in the larger block. Selecting a color from the field of specific shades causes the hexadecimal value of that exact color to be displayed, sometimes in the form of usable HTML code. A slightly more advanced HTML color picker might have named colors registered and be able to supply color names that match the hexadecimal sequence, making the HTML easier to read. This kind of basic HTML color picker can be found as a utility on the Internet and can be downloaded as a standalone application.

An HTML color picker that is a standalone application usually has more features than an online version. One useful feature is the ability to isolate a color somewhere outside the program itself, such as somewhere on the desktop or in another window. This can be used to find the hexadecimal code for colors that might be in a digital image or even another website without having to resort to using separate screen captures or paint programs.

Other features that an HTML color picker can implement include logging entire color schemes so they can be referenced repeatedly or saved and exported for different design projects. Some HTML color pickers can use vector math and other algorithms to actually generate entire color schemes that can be used on a website. This can mean finding mathematically complementary or analog colors for a given selection, sometimes providing direction during the design process.




Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN


Skip to content