Convert between HEX, RGB, HSL color codes with live preview.
Colors on the web can be represented in multiple formats. HEX uses hexadecimal notation (#RRGGBB), RGB specifies red, green, blue components (0-255), and HSL uses hue (0-360), saturation, and lightness (0-100%). Each format has advantages for different use cases like design work or programmatic color manipulation.
HEX colors encode RGB values in hexadecimal (16-255 per channel). RGB directly specifies color intensity (0-255). HSL separates color (hue) from intensity (saturation/lightness), making it more intuitive for creating color variations. All formats can represent the same 16.7 million colors.
HSL is better when you need to create color variations (lighter, darker, more/less saturated) as you can adjust a single component. RGB is better for color mixing and when working with image processing.
HEX shorthand uses 3 digits instead of 6 (#RGB instead of #RRGGBB). Each digit is doubled: #F00 becomes #FF0000 (red). Only works when each pair has identical digits.