What color formats does this tool support?

The Color Picker supports four major color formats: HEX (e.g., #FF6B6B), RGB (e.g., rgb(255, 107, 107)), HSL (e.g., hsl(0, 100%, 71%)), and CMYK (e.g., cmyk(0%, 58%, 58%, 0%)). All conversions happen in real-time — change one format and the others update instantly. You can copy any format with a single click.

How does the contrast checker work?

The contrast checker uses the WCAG 2.0 relative luminance formula to determine whether black or white text provides better readability on your chosen background color. It linearizes the sRGB values, computes a weighted luminance, and compares it against a threshold of 0.179. If the background is light (luminance > 0.179), black text is recommended; otherwise, white text is recommended. This helps you meet accessibility guidelines for text contrast.

Can I generate a color palette from a single color?

Yes. The Shades & Tints generator creates a customizable palette of lighter and darker variants from your selected color. You can choose between 2 and 21 shades. The tool varies the lightness in HSL space while preserving hue and saturation, producing a smooth gradient from light tints to dark shades. Click any shade to switch to it, or copy all shades at once for use in your design system.

What is the difference between HEX and RGB?

HEX and RGB represent the same color in different formats. HEX uses hexadecimal (base-16) notation — each pair of characters (00–FF) corresponds to one RGB channel (0–255). For example, #FF6B6B is equivalent to rgb(255, 107, 107). HEX is more compact and is the standard in CSS and HTML, while RGB is more human-readable and easier to manipulate programmatically. Both cover the full sRGB color space.

Why should I use HSL instead of RGB?

HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) makes it much easier to create color variations. Want a darker version of your color? Just decrease the lightness. Want a more muted tone? Reduce saturation. With RGB, you would need to adjust all three channels simultaneously and the relationship isn't intuitive. HSL is especially useful in CSS for creating hover states, disabled states, and color scales in design systems — you change one value instead of three.

What is CMYK and when do I need it?

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black) is the subtractive color model used in printing. While RGB is for screens, CMYK is for printed materials — business cards, brochures, posters, and packaging. If you're designing something that will be physically printed, you need CMYK values to ensure color accuracy. Note that CMYK has a smaller color gamut than RGB, so some vivid on-screen colors may appear duller in print.

Is my color data sent to a server?

No. The Color Picker runs entirely in your browser. All color conversions, contrast calculations, and shade generation happen client-side using JavaScript. Your color selections never leave your device, making this tool safe to use with proprietary brand colors, confidential design work, or any sensitive color data. Once you close the page, all state is cleared.

Can I use this tool on mobile devices?

Yes. The Color Picker is fully responsive and works on all modern mobile browsers. The layout adapts to smaller screens — inputs stack vertically and the shade tiles wrap naturally. The native color picker is supported on both iOS and Android, giving you a touch-friendly color selection experience. All features, including copy-to-clipboard, work on mobile devices.

🛠️DevToolsHub

Color Picker

Pick colors and convert between HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK formats.

What is a Color Picker?

A color picker is an essential tool for anyone who works with digital colors — designers, developers, artists, and marketers alike. It allows you to select, preview, and convert colors across multiple color models, ensuring consistency across your projects. Whether you’re building a website, designing a mobile app, creating a brand identity, or putting together a presentation, a reliable color picker eliminates the guesswork from color selection and format conversion.

DevToolsHub’s Color Picker goes far beyond a simple color swatch. It provides real-time conversion between four major color formats — HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK — so you can grab a color from a design tool and instantly get the exact value you need for CSS, a design system, or a print workflow. The built-in contrast checker helps you meet WCAG accessibility guidelines by showing whether black or white text reads better on your chosen background. The shades generator creates a palette of lighter and darker variants, perfect for building color scales for UI components like buttons, badges, and hover states.

Everything runs entirely in your browser — no data is sent to a server, making it safe for proprietary brand colors and sensitive design work. The tool is fully responsive, works offline once loaded, and supports both light and dark themes for a comfortable experience in any environment.

How to Use the Color Picker

Use the native color picker— click the colored box to open your browser’s built-in color picker and visually select any color.
Enter a HEX value — type a hex code (e.g., #FF6B6B) into the input field. The tool validates it instantly and updates all other formats.
Adjust RGB values — use the R, G, and B input fields (0–255) to fine-tune your color in the red-green-blue model.
Adjust HSL values — use the H (0–360°), S (0–100%), and L (0–100%) fields to manipulate hue, saturation, and lightness independently.
Copy any format — each section has a copy button to quickly grab the value in HEX, RGB, HSL, or CMYK format.
Check contrast — the contrast checker shows whether black or white text is more readable on your selected color, following WCAG luminance guidelines.
Generate shades — adjust the count and click any shade to instantly switch to that color. Copy all shades at once for use in your design system.
Try example colors — click any of the preset brand colors to quickly explore the tool.

Features

Four format conversion — Real-time conversion between HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK color models with full bi-directional support.
Native color picker— Uses the browser’s built-in color picker for visual, intuitive color selection.
Contrast checker — Automatically determines whether black or white text provides better readability on your chosen background, using the WCAG 2.0 relative luminance formula.
Shades & tints generator — Create customizable palettes of lighter and darker variants, from 2 to 21 shades. Perfect for building design system color scales.
Example brand colors — Quick-load presets to explore the tool with real-world colors.
Random color generator — Discover new colors with a single click for inspiration and experimentation.
One-click copy — Copy any format instantly with dedicated copy buttons for HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, and the full shades palette.
Input validation— Real-time validation ensures you’re always working with valid, well-formed color values.
100% client-side — All conversions happen in your browser. No data is uploaded, ensuring privacy for brand colors and proprietary palettes.
Dark mode support — Seamlessly adapts to your system theme for comfortable use in any lighting condition.

Color Format Guide

HEX

Hexadecimal (HEX) is the most common color format in web development. It uses a base-16 representation prefixed with #, followed by six characters: two for red, two for green, and two for blue. Each pair ranges from 00 (0 in decimal) to FF (255 in decimal). For example, #FF6B6B represents red=255, green=107, blue=107 — a coral red. A 3-digit shorthand (e.g., #F00) expands each digit to its doubled form (#FF0000). HEX is the default format in CSS, HTML, and most design tools.

RGB

The RGB (Red, Green, Blue) model represents colors as a combination of three primary light channels, each ranging from 0 to 255. This is the additive color model used by screens and digital displays. In CSS, you write it as rgb(78, 205, 196). RGB is intuitive for understanding how much of each primary color is mixed, but it’s less convenient for tasks like creating a lighter or darker variant of a color — that’s where HSL shines.

HSL

HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) is a cylindrical representation of the RGB model. Hue is an angle from 0° to 360° around the color wheel (red at 0°, green at 120°, blue at 240°). Saturation is a percentage from 0% (grayscale) to 100% (fully colored). Lightness goes from 0% (black) through 50% (normal) to 100% (white). HSL is particularly useful in CSS because you can create color variations by changing just one value — for example, reducing lightness for a darker shade or increasing saturation for a more vivid color. In CSS, you write it as hsl(177, 57%, 55%).

CMYK

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key/Black) is the subtractive color model used in printing. Unlike RGB which adds light, CMYK starts with white paper and subtracts brightness using ink. Each component is a percentage from 0% to 100%, indicating how much of that ink is applied. The K (black) component is added because mixing C, M, and Y alone produces a muddy brown rather than true black. CMYK is essential when preparing designs for print production — business cards, brochures, packaging, and any physical media. For example, cmyk(62%, 0%, 23%, 20%) describes a teal color for print. Note that CMYK has a smaller gamut than RGB, so some vivid screen colors cannot be exactly reproduced in print.

Frequently Asked Questions

Color Picker

Pick colors and convert between HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK formats.

What is a Color Picker?

How to Use the Color Picker

Use the native color picker— click the colored box to open your browser’s built-in color picker and visually select any color.
Enter a HEX value — type a hex code (e.g., #FF6B6B) into the input field. The tool validates it instantly and updates all other formats.
Adjust RGB values — use the R, G, and B input fields (0–255) to fine-tune your color in the red-green-blue model.
Adjust HSL values — use the H (0–360°), S (0–100%), and L (0–100%) fields to manipulate hue, saturation, and lightness independently.
Copy any format — each section has a copy button to quickly grab the value in HEX, RGB, HSL, or CMYK format.
Check contrast — the contrast checker shows whether black or white text is more readable on your selected color, following WCAG luminance guidelines.
Generate shades — adjust the count and click any shade to instantly switch to that color. Copy all shades at once for use in your design system.
Try example colors — click any of the preset brand colors to quickly explore the tool.

Features

Four format conversion — Real-time conversion between HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK color models with full bi-directional support.
Native color picker— Uses the browser’s built-in color picker for visual, intuitive color selection.
Contrast checker — Automatically determines whether black or white text provides better readability on your chosen background, using the WCAG 2.0 relative luminance formula.
Shades & tints generator — Create customizable palettes of lighter and darker variants, from 2 to 21 shades. Perfect for building design system color scales.
Example brand colors — Quick-load presets to explore the tool with real-world colors.
Random color generator — Discover new colors with a single click for inspiration and experimentation.
One-click copy — Copy any format instantly with dedicated copy buttons for HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, and the full shades palette.
Input validation— Real-time validation ensures you’re always working with valid, well-formed color values.
100% client-side — All conversions happen in your browser. No data is uploaded, ensuring privacy for brand colors and proprietary palettes.
Dark mode support — Seamlessly adapts to your system theme for comfortable use in any lighting condition.