HTML Colors

Learn about colors you can use on your website

Web HTML colors used to be limited to a small scope of colors (just over 200). This group of HTML colors was called the Browser-Safe Palette. Today the use of web colors is expanded to pretty much any color you can imagine.

To begin to understand the use of color on the web I will point you to Lynda.com.

Lynda.com describes itself as:

Helping media designers & communicators understand how to use professional tools and design to enhance visual communication through web, print, and motion graphics.

On her site you will find:

an explanation of the Browser-Safe Palette
Browser-Safe Palette by hue
Browser-Safe Palette by value

For the beginner, the Browser-Safe Palette is a good place to start, but it is by no means the place to finish. Her chart includes the hex and RGB values of each color which makes it a great reference tool. Bookmark that page so you always have it handy.

If you are serious about the graphic end of web design then her site offers a lot morefeatures.

Another very useful resource are the color reference charts provided by Visibone.

While these charts cannot come close to capturing every possible color, they provide a helpful reference to the standard color groups, tints, tones, blacks, greys and whites.

Visibone charts come in the following size and kinds:

8.5 x 11 Color Card – Covers “web safe” palette with color blindness reference. This card is also available in the card collection or browser book edition.
18×24 Color Poster – Covers the “web safe” palette arranged by pattern.
18×24 Color Chart – similar to the color card only bigger
18×24 Color Kilo Chart – covers 1068 different colors (42 different hues, 25 shades each).
8.5×8.5 Mouse Pad - shows the chart available on the color card but on a mouse pad.
Hexagonal Mouse Pad – similar to above pad, only difference is the shape.