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August 31, 2003
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Html Color Codes
 
In the world of HTML colors are usually specified by their numerical RGB values using the syntax #RRGGBB. Each of the values representing the red, green or blue part of the resulting color is specified by a hexadecimal number in the range between 00 (decimal 0) and ff (decimal 255). The hexadecimal digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,a,b,c,d,e,f represent the decimal numbers 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15.

Therefor the 3 basic colors are:

 #ff0000 #00ff00 #0000ff 

und the 3 simple combined colors:

 #ffff00 #00ffff #ff00ff 


Since each of the values for R, G and B can be in the range between 0 and 255, the resulting number of different colors which can be displayed is: 256 * 256 * 256 = 16.777.216, RGB color codes can be chosen arbitrarily, e.g.

 #af8735 #3789f0 #fedcba 

The human eye can only distinguish between several thousand shades, therefor the full variety of different RGB colors is seldom used. For example, the following colors are almost impossible to tell apart:

 #eeeee0 #eeeee1 #eeeee2 #eeeee3 #eeeee4 #eeeee5 


Therefor it makes sense, to restrict oneself to the use of only a limited range of colors. One possibility is to use only the 16 hexadecimal values 00 11 22 33 44 55 66 77 88 99 aa bb cc dd ee and ff. This results in 4096 different colors, in this system some of the shades of red would then be:

 #ff0000 #ff1111 #ff2222 #ff3333 #ff4444 #ff5555 #ff6666 #ff7777 ...
 #ee0000 #ee1111 #ee2222 #ee3333 #ee4444 #ee5555 #ee6666 #ee7777 ...
 #dd0000 #dd1111 #dd2222 #dd3333 #dd4444 #dd5555 #dd6666 #dd7777 ...
 ...

Please compare also the following colors with the ones above:

 #aa8833 #3388ee #ffddbb 


The next step could be, to further reduce the color-range to only 6 shades per color: 00 33 66 99 cc ff. Then the following 6 x 6 x 6 = 216 colors remain:

 #000000 #000033 #000066 #000099 #0000cc #0000ff 
 #003300 #003333 #003366 #003399 #0033cc #0033ff 
 #006600 #006633 #006666 #006699 #0066cc #0066ff 
 #009900 #009933 #009966 #009999 #0099cc #0099ff 
 #00cc00 #00cc33 #00cc66 #00cc99 #00cccc #00ccff 
 #00ff00 #00ff33 #00ff66 #00ff99 #00ffcc #00ffff 

#330000 #330033 #330066 #330099 #3300cc #3300ff #333300 #333333 #333366 #333399 #3333cc #3333ff #336600 #336633 #336666 #336699 #3366cc #3366ff #339900 #339933 #339966 #339999 #3399cc #3399ff #33cc00 #33cc33 #33cc66 #33cc99 #33cccc #33ccff #33ff00 #33ff33 #33ff66 #33ff99 #33ffcc #33ffff

#660000 #660033 #660066 #660099 #6600cc #6600ff #663300 #663333 #663366 #663399 #6633cc #6633ff #666600 #666633 #666666 #666699 #6666cc #6666ff #669900 #669933 #669966 #669999 #6699cc #6699ff #66cc00 #66cc33 #66cc66 #66cc99 #66cccc #66ccff #66ff00 #66ff33 #66ff66 #66ff99 #66ffcc #66ffff

#990000 #990033 #990066 #990099 #9900cc #9900ff #993300 #993333 #993366 #993399 #9933cc #9933ff #996600 #996633 #996666 #996699 #9966cc #9966ff #999900 #999933 #999966 #999999 #9999cc #9999ff #99cc00 #99cc33 #99cc66 #99cc99 #99cccc #99ccff #99ff00 #99ff33 #99ff66 #99ff99 #99ffcc #99ffff

#cc0000 #cc0033 #cc0066 #cc0099 #cc00cc #cc00ff #cc3300 #cc3333 #cc3366 #cc3399 #cc33cc #cc33ff #cc6600 #cc6633 #cc6666 #cc6699 #cc66cc #cc66ff #cc9900 #cc9933 #cc9966 #cc9999 #cc99cc #cc99ff #cccc00 #cccc33 #cccc66 #cccc99 #cccccc #ccccff #ccff00 #ccff33 #ccff66 #ccff99 #ccffcc #ccffff

#ff0000 #ff0033 #ff0066 #ff0099 #ff00cc #ff00ff #ff3300 #ff3333 #ff3366 #ff3399 #ff33cc #ff33ff #ff6600 #ff6633 #ff6666 #ff6699 #ff66cc #ff66ff #ff9900 #ff9933 #ff9966 #ff9999 #ff99cc #ff99ff #ffcc00 #ffcc33 #ffcc66 #ffcc99 #ffcccc #ffccff #ffff00 #ffff33 #ffff66 #ffff99 #ffffcc #ffffff

This 216 color palette has become popular some years ago, mostly because the first generation of Color-Pcs could already display those colors. And for webdesigners they were an acceptable compromise solution, which is still used by many webedesigners even nowadays.