Browser Safe Colors

Browser-safe Colors


HEX	RGB	%
00	0	0
33	51	20
66	102	40
99	153	60
CC	204	80
FF	255	100

Browser-safe colors are expressed as amounts of RED, GREEN and BLUE in hexadecimal code (HEX) and always in this order. In the accompanying chart, the HEX color codes are compared with RGB values and percentages of each color. In the hexadecimal system, which is base 16, there are sixteen symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Browser-safe colors are a very limited part of the spectrum possible on a monitor; 8-bit monitors are limited to displaying 256 colors, and the system software and browsers reserve up to 40 colors for their own use (256-40=216). The charts below present a complete palette of the 216 possible combination of 6 browser-save HEX codes taken three at a time. A 16-bit monitor can display 65,536 colors, and a 24-bit monitor, 16.7 million colors.

Colors can be specified for page <body bgcolor="#FFCC00">, table <table bgcolor="#FFFFFF">, and table data cell backgrounds <td bgcolor="#CCCCCC"> as well as for text <font color="#000000">. Color selection is facilitated by seeing the colors side by side. The next framed page presents a fixed palate of 12 color sets in 3 columns and alongside each of them a scrollable complete palate of the 216 colors (color groups in fixed palettes are noted along right side). Clicking on the top color tile in any fixed column will return you to this page. If the fixed sections extend beyond the edge of the viewable part of your monitor, put the cursor in a palate, and select "decrease font" from your browser menu; this will shrink the size of the color tiles.

second color
		00	33	66	99	CC	FF
f i r s t c o l o r	00	000000	003300	006600	009900	00CC00	00FF00	00	t h i r d c o l o r
	00	000033	003333	006633	009933	00CC33	00FF33	33
	00	000066	003366	006666	009966	00CC66	00FF66	66
	00	000099	003399	006699	009999	00CC99	00FF99	99
	00	0000CC	0033CC	0066CC	0099CC	00CCCC	00FFCC	CC
	00	0000FF	0033FF	0066FF	0099FF	00CCFF	00FFFF	FF
second color
		00	33	66	99	CC	FF
f i r s t c o l o r	33	330000	333300	336600	339900	33CC00	33FF00	00	t h i r d c o l o r
	33	330033	333333	336633	339933	33CC33	33FF33	33
	33	330055	333366	336666	339966	33CC66	33FF66	66
	33	330099	333399	336699	339999	33CC99	33FF99	99
	33	3300CC	3333CC	3366CC	3399CC	33CCCC	33FFCC	CC
	33	3300FF	3333FF	3366FF	3399FF	33CCFF	33FFFF	FF
second color
		00	33	66	99	CC	FF
f i r s t c o l o r	66	660000	663300	666600	669900	66CC00	66FF00	00	t h i r d c o l o r
	66	660033	663333	666633	669933	66CC33	66FF33	33
	66	660066	663366	666666	669966	66CC66	66FF66	66
	66	660099	663399	666699	669999	66CC99	66FF99	99
	66	6600CC	6633CC	6666CC	6699CC	66CCCC	66FFCC	CC
	66	6600FF	6633FF	6666FF	6699FF	66CCFF	66FFFF	FF
second color
		00	33	66	99	CC	FF
f i r s t c o l o r	99	990000	993300	996600	999900	99CC00	99FF00	00	t h i r d c o l o r
	99	990033	993333	996633	999933	99CC33	99FF33	33
	99	990066	993366	996666	999966	99CC66	99FF66	66
	99	990099	993399	996699	999999	99CC99	99FF99	99
	99	9900CC	9933CC	9966CC	9999CC	99CCCC	99FFCC	CC
	99	9900FF	9933FF	9966FF	9999FF	99CCFF	99FFFF	FF
second color
		00	33	66	99	CC	FF
f i r s t c o l o r	CC	CC0000	CC3300	CC6600	CC9900	CCCC00	CCFF00	00	t h i r d c o l o r
	CC	CC0033	CC3333	CC6633	CC9933	CCCC33	CCFF33	33
	CC	CC0066	CC3366	CC6666	CC9966	CCCC66	CCFF66	66
	CC	CC0099	CC3399	CC6699	CC9999	CCCC99	CCFF99	99
	CC	CC00CC	CC33CC	CC66CC	CC99CC	CCCCCC	CCFFCC	CC
	CC	CC00FF	CC33FF	CC66FF	CC99FF	CCCCFF	CCFFFF	FF
second color
		00	33	66	99	CC	FF
f i r s t c o l o r	FF	FF0000	FF3300	FF6600	FF9900	FFCC00	FFFF00	00	t h i r d c o l o r
	FF	FF0033	FF3333	FF6633	FF9933	FFCC33	FFFF33	33
	FF	FF0066	FF3366	FF6666	FF9966	FFCC66	FFFF66	66
	FF	FF0099	FF3399	FF6699	FF9999	FFCC99	FFFF99	99
	FF	FF00CC	FF33CC	FF66CC	FF99CC	FFCCCC	FFFFCC	CC
	FF	FF00FF	FF33FF	FF66FF	FF99FF	FFCCFF	FFFFFF	FF

Return to HTML: Creating a Web Page

Bibliography:

Castro, Elizabeth. 1998. HTML for the World Wide Web. Peachpit Press, Berkeley. 336 pp.
Williams, Robin, and John Tollett.1998. The Non-Designer's Web Book. Peachpit Press, Berkeley. 288 pp.