Web Safe Colors

Web safe colors are colors that are supported by a majority of web browsers and virtually any operating system back when computers could only handle 256 colors. However only 216 colors out of the 256 were constant enough to be considered to as “web safe”.

  Nowadays, we don’t have to worry about using web safe colors because of how technology has greatly advanced. Monitors now support millions of colors. There may be a slight difference in color depending on what operating system and software is being used to display all the wonderful vibrant colors.

  CSS and HTML formats specifically allow for over sixteen million colors to be displayed without any distortion of lightness, saturation, or hue of the color. To break it down further the colors support 256 shades of red, 256 shades of green, 256 shades of blue, when combines make exactly 16,777,216.

  Most designers of web determine colors by hex codes. Hexadecimal notation is a six digit/alphabetical code that when is typed in Adobe software produces a specific color. For example, the hexadecimal notation for magenta is #ff0ff. Or if you want a darker shade of magenta just type in the code #8b008b. Another helpful guide to finding the perfect color is RGB notation. This method functions by adding and/or removing the colors red, green, and blue. Adding all the colors (each 255 shades of RGB) create white because they’re additive colors. An example of RGB notation is if you want to create a pastel lavender. Simply type in the notation R: 216 G:205 B:255.

  To pick a website’s color is very challenging. Instead, search for color picker in Google and several pretty color combinations will show up and help you decide which color suits best for your website. Color schemes like monochromatic, analogous, and complimentary colors are typical ways for picking colors for any website.

Web safe colors don’t really apply nowadays but as always, can still be displayed in monitors. But now, the world is unlimited to any color pallet ever. Web safe colors can be applied in Photoshop simply by clicking the “Web Safe Color” check box.

Colors can change on what kind of brand you have. The red on a Windows monitor is different on a Macintosh monitor. *cough cough* (Macs suck)

To play around with RGB notation click here

To find the exact hexadecimal code for your website click here

To learn more about web safe colors, hex codes, RGB notation, and a whole lot of other stuff click here

Photo by Thomas Charters on Unsplash

RGB vs. CMYK

These are color modes that determine whether you are either printing or posting an image on the web.

RGB

Red Green Blue, is what RGB stands for. This mode made for web images. Since web images are displayed in computer monitors, they allow a million more colors than what printing can do. This color mode involves additive colors, which means to make a certain color you have to add some red and some green and maybe a little blue to get your favorite color.  According to Michele Allen, the human eye cannot see reflected light, therefore homosapiens sapiens can only see black. However, if all the colors of the CMYK colored are removed, then humans are able to see the RGB colors.

CMYK

This color is also known as Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key. Key is black ink and is called key because in four color printing, the rest of the colors’ (cyan, magenta, yellow) printing plates are carefully aligned with the key of the black plate. What is meant by plates is that each color has a plate of the image being printed. Therefore with each plate, laid on top of each other, would create the perfectly colored picture. This color mode is subtractive, meaning that if cyan, magenta, yellow and black, were removed it would create white. CMYK color mode should always be used for printing anything! If you were to look at a print with a magnified glass, the printing colors will show as tiny organized dots overlapping each other to make a certain color. These are screens of each color that overlap to make certain colors.

This is a very important diagram of how CMYK messes up colors. It is not made to print such neon colors like these. However, with PMS printing you can make all kinds of colors like neons and metallic colors! Unfortunately it is very expensive and almost no one uses it unless they’re extraordinarily rich.

Pro Tip: Always know whether you’re using CMYK or RGB because if you switch in between while working it will most definitely eff up all your colors and that nice red sweater will turn into a poopy brown. ): I know this by experience, so please, stick to one and just make two separate files (one for RGB and the other for CMYK)

To see who took this beautiful featured image click here

To play around CMYK colors click here

Photo by Felix Dubois-Robert on Unsplash