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Free Color Code
Client-Side Color Intelligence

Explore, Create & Understand Colors

Convert colors across HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, and CMYK. Generate cohesive 5-color palettes, craft CSS gradients, and inspect WCAG accessibility in real time.

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FF5733Lum 0.283

Persimmon

rgb(255, 87, 51)

HEX#FF5733
RGBrgb(255, 87, 51)
HSLhsl(11, 100%, 60%)
HSVhsv(11, 80%, 100%)
CMYKcmyk(0%, 66%, 80%, 0%)
Popular:

The Complete Free Color Code Toolkit for Designers & Developers

Free Color Code is your all-in-one color code solution — a free, browser-based toolkit that lets you find, convert, generate, and manage every color code format you need for modern web design and development. Whether you're a front-end developer writing CSS, a UI designer building design systems, or a content creator matching brand colors, our suite of ten precision tools handles every color workflow without leaving your browser.

Instant Color Code Conversion Across All Formats

Stop manually calculating values. Our color code converter transforms HEX color codes, RGB color codes, HSL color codes, and CMYK instantly with pixel-perfect accuracy. Paste any color code hex value like #0070F3 and get the exact color code RGB equivalent rgb(0, 112, 243), color code HSL hsl(222, 91%, 48%), and CMYK breakdown in milliseconds. The bidirectional converter works as a hex to RGB, RGB to HEX, HSL to HEX, and color code calculator all in one.

Comprehensive Color Code Chart With Names

Browse our curated color code chart with names featuring 140+ standard web color codes — from color code red (#FF0000) and color code blue (#0000FF) to color code green, color code black, color code white, color code yellow, color code orange, color code purple, and color code pink. Each entry displays the color code hex, color code RGB, color code HSL, and human-readable name, making it the ultimate color code reference and color code guide for quick lookup.

Color Code Finder & Picker From Images

Need to extract an exact color code from a screenshot, logo, or photo? Our color code finder and color code picker let you upload any image and click to identify the precise color code from image at any pixel. The color code identifier returns HEX, RGB, HSL, and color name instantly — perfect for reverse-engineering brand palettes or matching UI elements. It's the fastest color code lookup tool for designers who need to find color code from image assets without guesswork.

Generate Harmonious Color Code Palettes & Combinations

Create professional color code palettes in seconds with our free color code generator. Choose from monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic, and tetradic harmony rules, or lock specific color codes and let the algorithm complete the scheme. Export production-ready CSS color code variables, Tailwind config, or SCSS maps directly. Browse color code combinations from our curated trending palettes — Modern SaaS, Cyber Neon, Sunset Ember, Nordic Forest — each balanced for accessibility and visual hierarchy.

Built for Modern Workflows: HTML, CSS & Beyond

Every tool outputs color code for HTML and color code for CSS in formats developers actually use: #HEX, rgb(), rgba(), hsl(), hsla(), CSS custom properties, and framework-ready tokens. The gradient generator produces copy-paste linear-gradient() and radial-gradient() declarations. The contrast checker validates WCAG 2.1 AA/AAA ratios against text and UI components in real time.

Why Choose Free Color Code for Your Color Code Needs?

  • 100% free, no signup — Every color code tool is unlimited and private
  • Works offline — PWA support lets you access the online color code tool without internet
  • Privacy-first — Image processing for color code from image happens entirely in your browser
  • Keyboard accessible — Full WCAG 2.1 compliance built into every color code selector
  • Zero dependencies — Lightweight, fast, and reliable for production workflows

Join 50,000+ designers and developers who trust Free Color Code as their daily color code reference. Whether you need a quick color code conversion, a full color code palette for a new project, or an exact color code match from a design file, Free Color Code delivers professional results instantly — no installation, no account, no friction.

Essential Color Tools

Engineered for lightning-fast workflows directly in your browser.

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Curated Harmonious Palettes

Ready-to-use color schemes balanced for digital interfaces and branding.

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Popular Colors & Codes

Explore individual color codes, harmonic relationships, and shades.

Color Architecture & Theory

Everything You Need to Master Digital Color

A reference guide for developers and designers on digital color systems, accessibility standards, and harmonious design systems.

What is a HEX Color Code?

A HEX (hexadecimal) color code is a 6-digit alphanumeric representation preceded by a hash symbol (e.g., #FF5733). The six digits split into three two-digit byte pairs: Red, Green, and Blue. Each byte ranges from 00 (0 intensity) to FF (255 max intensity). A three-digit shorthand like #F53 automatically duplicates each character to #FF5533.

HEX vs. RGB vs. HSL: When to Use Which

HEX is best for design tokens and CSS stylesheets due to its compact brevity. RGB (rgb(255, 87, 51)) is ideal when programmatically manipulating opacity in WebGL or canvas using alpha channels. HSL (hsl(11, 100%, 60%)) is king for building dynamic UI color ramps, shades, and interactive hover states because tweaking lightness doesn't distort base hue.

How to Choose a Cohesive Color Palette

Start by selecting a single anchor brand hue with strong contrast against white and black. Then apply the 60-30-10 UI rule: 60% neutral surface canvas (clean whites or deep slates), 30% secondary structural color (borders, cards, headers), and 10% high-intent accent for primary CTAs and interactive highlights.

Understanding WCAG Color Contrast Standards

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) dictate minimum contrast ratios to guarantee content is legible for the 300+ million people globally with vision impairments. Level AA mandates a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for body text and 3.0:1 for large text (18pt+) and UI borders. Level AAA demands a stringent 7.0:1 ratio.

Frequently Asked Questions About Color Codes

Quick answers to common questions about color code formats, conversion, and tools.

What is a color code picker?

A color code picker is a tool that lets you select any color visually and instantly get its exact color code in multiple formats — HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK. Free Color Code's picker includes an eyedropper for sampling colors from your screen, a visual hue/saturation/lightness selector, and direct input fields for precise value entry. It's essential for designers who need to identify and replicate exact colors from designs, websites, or images.

What is a color code in RGB?

An RGB color code represents colors using the Red, Green, and Blue additive color model. Each channel ranges from 0 to 255, written as rgb(red, green, blue). For example, pure red is rgb(255, 0, 0), white is rgb(255, 255, 255), and black is rgb(0, 0, 0). RGB is the native color model for screens and digital displays.

What is a HEX color code?

A HEX color code (hexadecimal) is a 6-digit representation of RGB values, prefixed with #. Each pair of digits represents Red, Green, and Blue intensity from 00 to FF (0-255 in decimal). For example, #FF0000 is red, #00FF00 is green, and #0000FF is blue. HEX is the most common color code for HTML and CSS color code usage due to its compact format.

What is an HSL color code?

An HSL color code uses Hue, Saturation, and Lightness — a cylindrical color model that's more intuitive for humans. Hue is a degree (0-360°) on the color wheel (0°=red, 120°=green, 240°=blue). Saturation is 0-100% (gray to vivid). Lightness is 0-100% (black to white). Written as hsl(hue, saturation%, lightness%). For example, hsl(0, 100%, 50%) is pure red. HSL makes creating color code palettes and variations (shades/tints) much easier.

What is the difference between HEX and RGB color codes?

HEX and RGB represent the exact same color space (sRGB) — just different notations. HEX uses base-16 (hexadecimal) notation: #RRGGBB. RGB uses base-10 decimal: rgb(R, G, B). They convert 1:1: #0070F3 = rgb(0, 112, 243). HEX is shorter for CSS; RGB is readable and supports alpha via rgba(). Our color code converter transforms between them instantly.

What is the difference between RGB and HSL?

RGB is hardware-oriented (how screens produce color via light addition). HSL is human-oriented (how we perceive color: hue, saturation, lightness). RGB mixes three primaries; HSL separates color character (hue) from intensity (saturation) and brightness (lightness). HSL makes it trivial to create color code combinations — e.g., keep hue constant, vary lightness for monochromatic schemes. Our color code converter handles RGB to HSL and HSL to RGB bidirectionally.

How do I find the color code of an image?

Upload your image to Free Color Code's color code finder (Color Picker tool). Click any pixel to instantly extract the exact color code at that point — displayed as HEX, RGB, HSL, and color name. The color code from image tool processes everything locally in your browser (privacy-first, no uploads). Perfect for grabbing brand colors from logos, UI screenshots, or photos. You can also use the eyedropper to sample colors directly from any webpage.

How do I find the HEX code of a color?

Three ways: (1) Use our color code picker — select visually or input RGB/HSL to get the HEX color code instantly. (2) Paste an RGB value like rgb(0, 112, 243) into our color code converter — it outputs #0070F3. (3) Upload an image to the color code finder and click the color — the HEX appears immediately. All methods are free, instant, and work offline.

How do I find the RGB value of a color?

Enter any HEX color code (e.g., #0070F3) or HSL color code into Free Color Code's color code converter — the RGB color code (rgb(0, 112, 243)) appears instantly. Or use the color code picker to select a color visually, or upload an image to the color code finder and click to sample. The tool also shows rgba() with alpha channel for transparency.

How do I find the HSL value of a color?

Input a HEX color code or RGB color code into our color code converter — the HSL color code displays immediately (e.g., hsl(222, 91%, 48%)). The color code picker also lets you adjust HSL sliders directly to see real-time changes. HSL is ideal for creating systematic color code palettes — modify lightness for shades/tints, shift hue for complementary colors, or adjust saturation for muted/vivid variants.

How does WCAG calculate color contrast ratios?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) measure relative luminance — the perceived brightness of any point in a color space normalized to 0 for black and 1 for white. The contrast ratio formula is (L1 + 0.05) / (L2 + 0.05), where L1 is the lighter luminance and L2 is the darker luminance. Level AA requires at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (18pt or 14pt bold). Use our free Contrast Checker tool to verify compliance instantly.

Why do colors look different on different screens or print?

Digital displays emit light using the additive RGB color model with varied panel color spaces (sRGB, DCI-P3, Adobe RGB). Print uses the subtractive CMYK model (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black) where inks absorb reflected light. Since CMYK has a smaller color gamut than RGB, vivid screen colors like neon cyan or electric green cannot be reproduced identically in print.

What are color harmonies and how do designers use them?

Color harmonies are mathematical relationships across the standard 360-degree color wheel. Complementary colors (opposite at 180°) provide maximum visual punch. Analogous colors (adjacent within 30-45°) evoke natural unity. Triadic harmonies (equilateral 120° spacing) deliver balanced vibrancy. Split complementary balances punch with harmony. Use our Palette Generator to generate these instantly.

Does Free Color Code store my color data or require an account?

No. Free Color Code is completely client-side and serverless. All color transformations, WCAG math, image processing, and palette generations run instantly within your browser. There are no tracking scripts, logins, or server storage.