Color theory
My very basic understanding of colors.
Color spaces
An algorithm or model that describes colors given a value in that model. The following are "equal" steps across two colors using different color spaces.
| Color Space | Colors [1] [2] [3] [4] x5 x8 x15 |
|---|---|
| RGB (Red, Green, Blue) | |
| HSV (Hue, Saturation, Value/Brightness) | |
| HSI (Hue, Saturation, Intensity) | |
| HCL (Hue, Chroma, Luminance) | |
| LAB (Lightness, a, b) (aka CIELAB) |
Color Harmonies
Color harmonies or chords are groups of colors chosen given their mathematical placement in the color space (usually given their hue).
This article from Tiger color explains color harmonies well.
Color tools
A list of tools to help you make or choose colors.
Data visualization color/palette generation
- I Want Hue - Colors for data scientists. Generate and refine palettes of optimally distinct colors.
- HCL Picker - Simple, but nicely done HCL picker and map preview.
- Color Brewer - Palettes for maps (done in Flash).
General color/palette generation
- Hail Pixel - simple, nicely down color picker (not from screen).
- Color Schemer Online - Basic color palette.
- Color Scheme Designer - Color palette generator with standard combinations.
- Kuler - Palette generator and sharer; can generate from image (done in Flash).
- Colllor - Generate gradients.
- Pictaculous - Color palette from image; has an API.
- Color Palette generator - Color palette from image.
- Color hunter - Color palette from image or color.
- CSS Drive Color Palette Generator - Color palette from image.
- ColoRotate - Color creation in 3D.
- Color Explorer - Multiple color tools.
- Check My Colors - Input a URL and it analyzes the color contrast.
- Contract A - Finds accessible color combination.
- Color Munki - Design palettes.
Palette collections
- Colour Lovers - Color and palette community.
- Color Combos - Color and palette community.
- Kolur - Palettes from images.
Color pickers
- Color - Color picker for Mac.
- Eye Dropper - Chrome extension.
- ColorZilla - Firefox extension.
Programming with colors
- Chroma.js - Javascript library for colors.
- D3 - D3 is a javascript library for data visualization but has an API to handle different color spaces. CIE Lab plugin.
- Raphael - Raphael is a javascript drawing library that methods for handling colors.
- Chromatist - Color conversions in Javascript.
- GrapeFruit - Color conversion in Python.
- colors.py - Color handling in Python.
Articles about colors
- Dear NASA: No More Rainbow Color Scales, Please
- How To Avoid Equidistant HSV Colors
- I Want Hue - Theory
- Color Space (Wikipedia)
- Color Harmonies, Basic techniques for combining colors
You can find this page at zzolo.github.com/colortools.