There are many situations where it’s essential to know the exact digital color. For instance, when you’re creating the design of a website or blog, trying to match a color you liked on another site, or selecting images that fit the overall tone of your article. In all these cases, identifying the precise color code is crucial.
Colors in digital documents are typically specified in one of three ways: by name, in RGB format, or using a hexadecimal (hex) code. RGB and hex formats represent the same colors but use different numerical systems — RGB uses decimal values, while hex uses base-16 notation.
Let’s look at an example. The color RGB(138, 43, 226) is equivalent to the hex code #8A2BE2. This conversion works like this:
- 138 in decimal equals 8A in hexadecimal (8 × 16 + 10)
- 43 becomes 2B (2 × 16 + 11)
- 226 is E2 (14 × 16 + 2)
Each of the three color components — red, green, and blue — is converted individually using this method.
When I first began working online, I tried to select colors from the palette by eye, aiming to match examples visually. But this approach turned out to be unreliable. To accurately match a color from an image or webpage, it’s important to determine its exact RGB or hex value.
how to do it
The simplest and most universal way:
Step 0: Download the RGB Color Picker extension
Step 1: Click on the Color Picker extension
Step 2: Click on Pick Color
Step 3: Pick Color
Step 4: Now you can see the encoding of the selected color.
