Tool
What the Color Space Converter does
Color Space Converter: converts HEX, RGB and HSL from Pick a colour.
With Pick a colour entered, the Color Space Converter works out HEX, RGB and HSL. There is no submit step; the numbers move as you adjust them.
It is mostly used by people building out a palette. Picking colours that work together is easier with the maths already done.
Nothing leaves the tab. You can watch your browser network panel while you use it and see for yourself.
Field definitions, the method, and a worked example from the default values are all set out further down the page.
What do the Color Space Converter fields mean?
The Color Space Converter uses 1 input. Rather than an empty form you get a filled one, useful when you only want to test a single change.
| Field | What to enter | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Pick a colour | optional | #2563eb |
How does the Color Space Converter work?
Each output is derived from the inputs above in a single pass; there is no hidden state carried between runs, so the same inputs always give the same conversion.
Validation runs before the calculation, which is why a mistyped value shows an error rather than a plausible-looking result.
What a typical run looks like
You provide: Pick a colour
What happens: the file is read into memory by your browser, processed locally, and offered back as a download. It is never uploaded.
You get back: the finished file to download, with a line in the panel saying what was done.
Because the work is local, speed depends on your device rather than our servers, and large files are limited only by available memory.
The colour spaces compared
Each colour space exists for a different job. Choosing the wrong one is why colours shift unexpectedly between a screen design and a printed result.
| sRGB / Hex | Screen display | the web default |
|---|---|---|
| HSL / HSV | Editing and palettes | human-friendly axes |
| CMYK | Print production | smaller gamut |
| CIELAB | Colour difference | perceptually uniform |
| CIE XYZ | Reference space | device-independent |
| Display P3 | Wide-gamut screens | about 25% larger than sRGB |
Worth knowing
- Conversions between RGB, hex, HSL and HSV are lossless. They describe identical colours in different coordinates.
- Conversions into CMYK are lossy, because the CMYK gamut is smaller. Out-of-gamut colours are clipped to the nearest reproducible one.
- Lab and XYZ are larger than any device gamut, so converting into them loses nothing and converting back out may.
- Without an ICC profile, any RGB-to-CMYK conversion is an approximation regardless of the formula used.
How to use it
- Type Pick a colour.
- The results panel stays in sync with the form as you edit it.
- Look at HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK and HSV in the output panel.
- If you need a record, Copy Link saves the inputs and Print produces a clean page.
What this tool does not do
- Colours render differently across displays; the values are exact but the appearance is not guaranteed.
- Conversions between colour spaces with different gamuts are approximate at the edges.
- There is no history: reload the page and the previous run is gone.
Frequently asked questions
Pick a colour. That is the whole form. A starting value is in place for each, so the form is usable immediately, without filling anything in first.
No. Your browser is doing the computing, so we could not see the values even if we wanted to.
No cost and no account. Use it as often as you like.
It follows the standard definition for this operation, so the result matches what a reference implementation would give.