Color Converter

Convert colors between HEX, RGB, HSL, and other formats.

Color Formats

Colors can be represented many ways - HEX codes (#ff5733), RGB values (255, 87, 51), HSL (14°, 100%, 60%), and more. Design tools might give you one format; CSS might need another. This converter translates between them.

HEX is most common in web development. RGB is intuitive (red, green, blue amounts). HSL (hue, saturation, lightness) makes it easier to create related colors - adjust lightness for shades, saturation for vibrancy.

Format Guide

  • HEX: #RRGGBB (web standard)
  • RGB: 0-255 per channel
  • HSL: Hue angle, saturation %, lightness %

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between HEX, RGB, and HSL?

All three formats describe the same colors but in different ways. HEX (#ff6347) is a compact hexadecimal notation widely used in HTML and CSS. RGB (255, 99, 71) specifies red, green, and blue channel intensities from 0–255. HSL (9, 100%, 64%) uses Hue (0–360°), Saturation, and Lightness — making it much more intuitive for adjusting colors programmatically.

When should I use HSL instead of HEX?

HSL is ideal when you need to create color palettes, tints, or shades programmatically. Because the lightness and saturation channels are separate, you can easily darken a brand color by reducing lightness, or create an accessible hover state — without having to manually calculate new HEX values.

How do I convert a 3-digit HEX code to 6 digits?

Double each digit: #abc becomes #aabbcc. This shorthand only works when both digits of each channel are the same (e.g. #f05 → #ff0055). This tool handles the expansion automatically when you enter a 3-digit HEX value.

Can I use these color formats directly in CSS?

Yes. All modern browsers support color: #ff6347, color: rgb(255, 99, 71), and color: hsl(9, 100%, 64%) natively in CSS. You can also use rgba() and hsla() with a fourth alpha channel value (0.0–1.0) to control transparency.

What is color saturation?

Saturation controls how vivid or grey a color appears. 100% saturation gives the purest, most vibrant version of a hue, while 0% saturation renders it as a shade of grey. Reducing saturation is useful for creating muted, professional-looking UI palettes.

When You Actually Need This

Design handoffs from tools like Figma or Photoshop often give you colors in hex format, but your CSS framework uses RGB or HSL. Converting #3B82F6 to rgb(59, 130, 246) or hsl(217, 91%, 60%) by hand is error-prone and slow. More importantly, HSL makes it trivial to create color variations — if you want a lighter or darker version of a brand color, adjusting the lightness value in HSL format is intuitive. Trying to derive that from hex or RGB requires understanding color theory that most developers don't have memorized.

Cross-platform consistency is another common problem. Your mobile app uses RGBA notation for transparency, your CSS uses hsla, and your design system documentation lists everything in hex. When a stakeholder reports "the blue looks different on iOS vs web," converting all three representations to the same format is the first debugging step. If #3B82F680 (hex with alpha) converts to rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5) but your iOS code has rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.6), you've found the mismatch.