Common Color Formats

In order to create images or use background colors, it is necessary to know how to specify colors in HTML and/or image-editing software. Although there are many ways in which colors can be specified, the major formats are CMYK, HSB, and RGB. CMYK, however, is used mostly for printed images and is therefore not generally used in creating Web graphics.

HSB (Hue-Saturation-Brightness)

Hue: The shade of the color (e.g., red, yellow, blue-green, etc.)
Saturation: The level of intensity of the color (the more intense, the more vibrant the color)
Brightness: How light or dark the color is
Describes how we naturally perceive colors
The hue is given in terms of degrees on the color wheel. Saturation and brightness are given in terms of percent.

[HSB Color Wheel]

RGB (Red-Green-Blue)

Describes colors in terms of their primary visual component colors
By using 256 levels each for red, green, and blue components, about 16.7 million colors can be specified
The method that computers use to display colors
Often (as with HTML) RGB values are given in hexadecimal instead of decimal

[RGB Color Example]