The Totally Old-School Web-Safe Color Palette

What is this page all about? An explanation is below the color chart.

Non-Dithering Colors
000000 R0 G0 B0	000033 R0 G0 B51	000066 R0 G0 B102	000099 R0 G0 B153	0000cc R0 G0 B204	0000ff R0 G0 B255
003300 R0 G51 B0	003333 R0 G51 B51	003366 R0 G51 B102	003399 R0 G51 B153	0033cc R0 G51 B204	0033ff R0 G51 B255
006600 R0 G102 B0	006633 R0 G102 B51	006666 R0 G102 B102	006699 R0 G102 B153	0066cc R0 G102 B204	0066ff R0 G102 B255
009900 R0 G153 B0	009933 R0 G153 B51	009966 R0 G153 B102	009999 R0 G153 B153	0099cc R0 G153 B204	0099ff R0 G153 B255
00cc00 R0 G204 B0	00cc33 R0 G204 B51	00cc66 R0 G204 B102	00cc99 R0 G204 B153	00cccc R0 G204 B204	00ccff R0 G204 B255
00ff00 R0 G255 B0	00ff33 R0 G255 B51	00ff66 R0 G255 B102	00ff99 R0 G255 B153	00ffcc R0 G255 B204	00ffff R0 G255 B255
33ff00 R51 G255 B0	33ff33 R51 G255 B51	33ff66 R51 G255 B102	33ff99 R51 G255 B153	33ffcc R51 G255 B204	33ffff R51 G255 B255
33cc00 R51 G204 B0	33cc33 R51 G204 B51	33cc66 R51 G204 B102	33cc99 R51 G204 B153	33cccc R51 G204 B204	33ccff R51 G204 B255
339900 R51 G153 B0	339933 R51 G153 B51	339966 R51 G153 B102	339999 R51 G153 B153	3399cc R51 G153 B204	3399ff R51 G153 B255
336600 R51 G102 B0	336633 R51 G102 B51	336666 R51 G102 B102	336699 R51 G102 B153	3366cc R51 G102 B204	3366ff R51 G102 B255
333300 R51 G51 B0	333333 R51 G51 B51	333366 R51 G51 B102	333399 R51 G51 B153	3333cc R51 G51 B204	3333ff R51 G51 B255
330000 R51 G0 B0	330033 R51 G0 B51	330066 R51 G0 B102	330099 R51 G0 B153	3300cc R51 G0 B204	3300ff R51 G0 B255
660000 R102 G0 B0	660033 R102 G0 B51	660066 R102 G0 B102	660099 R102 G0 B153	6600cc R102 G0 B204	6600ff R102 G0 B255
663300 R102 G51 B0	663333 R102 G51 B51	663366 R102 G51 B102	663399 R102 G51 B153	6633cc R102 G51 B204	6633ff R102 G51 B255
666600 R102 G102 B0	666633 R102 G102 B51	666666 R102 G102 B102	666699 R102 G102 B153	6666cc R102 G102 B204	6666ff R102 G102 B255
669900 R102 G153 B0	669933 R102 G153 B51	669966 R102 G153 B102	669999 R102 G153 B153	6699cc R102 G153 B204	6699ff R102 G153 B255
66cc00 R102 G204 B0	66cc33 R102 G204 B51	66cc66 R102 G204 B102	66cc99 R102 G204 B153	66cccc R102 G204 B204	66ccff R102 G204 B255
66ff00 R102 G255 B0	66ff33 R102 G255 B51	66ff66 R102 G255 B102	66ff99 R102 G255 B153	66ffcc R102 G255 B204	66ffff R102 G255 B255
99ff00 R153 G255 B0	99ff33 R153 G255 B51	99ff66 R153 G255 B102	99ff99 R153 G255 B153	99ffcc R153 G255 B204	99ffff R153 G255 B255
99cc00 R153 G204 B0	99cc33 R153 G204 B51	99cc66 R153 G204 B102	99cc99 R153 G204 B153	99cccc R153 G204 B204	99ccff R153 G204 B255
999900 R153 G153 B0	999933 R153 G153 B51	999966 R153 G153 B102	999999 R153 G153 B153	9999cc R153 G153 B204	9999ff R153 G153 B255
996600 R153 G102 B0	996633 R153 G102 B51	996666 R153 G102 B102	996699 R153 G102 B153	9966cc R153 G102 B204	9966ff R153 G102 B255
993300 R153 G51 B0	993333 R153 G51 B51	993366 R153 G51 B102	993399 R153 G51 B153	9933cc R153 G51 B204	9933ff R153 G51 B255
990000 R153 G0 B0	990033 R153 G0 B51	990066 R153 G0 B102	990099 R153 G0 B153	9900cc R153 G0 B204	9900ff R153 G0 B255
cc0000 R204 G0 B0	cc0033 R204 G0 B51	cc0066 R204 G0 B102	cc0099 R204 G0 B153	cc00cc R204 G0 B204	cc00ff R204 G0 B255
cc3300 R204 G51 B0	cc3333 R204 G51 B51	cc3366 R204 G51 B102	cc3399 R204 G51 B153	cc33cc R204 G51 B204	cc33ff R204 G51 B255
cc6600 R204 G102 B0	cc6633 R204 G102 B51	cc6666 R204 G102 B102	cc6699 R204 G102 B153	cc66cc R204 G102 B204	cc66ff R204 G102 B255
cc9900 R204 G153 B0	cc9933 R204 G153 B51	cc9966 R204 G153 B102	cc9999 R204 G153 B153	cc99cc R204 G153 B204	cc99ff R204 G153 B255
cccc00 R204 G204 B0	cccc33 R204 G204 B51	cccc66 R204 G204 B102	cccc99 R204 G204 B153	cccccc R204 G204 B204	ccccff R204 G204 B255
ccff00 R204 G255 B0	ccff33 R204 G255 B51	ccff66 R204 G255 B102	ccff99 R204 G255 B153	ccffcc R204 G255 B204	ccffff R204 G255 B255
ffff00 R255 G255 B0	ffff33 R255 G255 B51	ffff66 R255 G255 B102	ffff99 R255 G255 B153	ffffcc R255 G255 B204	ffffff R255 G255 B255
ffcc00 R255 G204 B0	ffcc33 R255 G204 B51	ffcc66 R255 G204 B102	ffcc99 R255 G204 B153	ffcccc R255 G204 B204	ffccff R255 G204 B255
ff9900 R255 G153 B0	ff9933 R255 G153 B51	ff9966 R255 G153 B102	ff9999 R255 G153 B153	ff99cc R255 G153 B204	ff99ff R255 G153 B255
ff6600 R255 G102 B0	ff6633 R255 G102 B51	ff6666 R255 G102 B102	ff6699 R255 G102 B153	ff66cc R255 G102 B204	ff66ff R255 G102 B255
ff3300 R255 G51 B0	ff3333 R255 G51 B51	ff3366 R255 G51 B102	ff3399 R255 G51 B153	ff33cc R255 G51 B204	ff33ff R255 G51 B255
ff0000 R255 G0 B0	ff0033 R255 G0 B51	ff0066 R255 G0 B102	ff0099 R255 G0 B153	ff00cc R255 G0 B204	ff00ff R255 G0 B255

What does this table mean? If you're a graphic artist or an HTML veteran, it will be obvious. It's basically obsolete, but if you'd like a more detail, see below.

Understanding Web Color

All colors on your computer are created by mixing some combination of red, green, and blue. The color displayed by each pixel is determined by the amounts of each color included in that mixture. Mix all of them at full intensity, and you get white; turn them all off, and you get a completely black pixel. The phrase "color depth" is used to describe the precision with which colors are expressed. HTML allows for the use of 24-bit color, which means that each color of that "RGB triplet" is allocated 8 bits of binary storage. That means that there are 256 possible values for the amount of red in each color, 256 values for the amount of green, and 256 for blue. Each value can range from 0 to 255. When combined, that results in a total of 16,777,216 unique colors.

If you've worked with programs like Photoshop, you've probably seen these values in the color picker. Choose black, and you'll see that it is a mixture of zero parts red, zero parts green, and zero parts blue. Choose white, and you'll see that it is a mixture of the maximum values of those three colors: Red 255, Green 255, and Blue 255. A pure blue pixel would have the maximum blue, and no red or green: Red 0, Green 0, and Blue 255. If we wanted to, we could write that color of blue as R0 G0 B255. However, computers often use a different number system (hexadecimal) to express large numbers. Compared to decimal (base 10) numbering, hexadecimal (Base 16) can store larger numbers in less space. Numbers 1 through 9 are the same in decimal and hexadecimal; but 10 through 15 are written as A, B, C, D, E, and F. Sixteen is written as 10. Thirty-one would be written as 1F in hexadecimal. If you find that a little confusing, never mind... all you really need to understand is that when you see a color specified as "ccff66," you are looking at a hexadecimal number. That number is an RGB triplet. The first two digits (cc) are the amount of red, the second two (ff) are the amount of green, and the third two (66) are the amount of blue. Written in decimal, "ccff66" would be 204 parts of red, 255 parts of green, and 102 parts of blue.

Many computers cannot display full 24-bit color. Many older systems are capable of only 8-bit color. Eight-bit color allows for a total of 256 colors. What happens when you need a color that isn't in that set of 256 colors? Usually, the program will simulate the color by "dithering." Dithering is the process of mixing different-colored pixels together to give the appearance of another color. Imagine for a moment that we needed to show an orange square, but our program didn't have orange in its color palette. We could make several little squares of red and yellow, mingle them together, and presto... we would have orange. However, our dithered orange would look a little grainy compared to a real, genuine orange square. Dithering often produces results that are less than spectacular: text can become almost unreadable, and photos and graphics can lack detail and sharpness. For that reason, may web designers want to use a color palette that will never need to be dithered. The problem, however, is that not all platforms use the same color palette. There are only 216 colors in common between the Windows and Macintosh versions of the 8-bit color set. These 216 colors are often referred to as the "browser-safe palette" or the "non-dithering palette." In this palette, there are six possible values for the intensity of each component of the RGB triplet: 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100%. Six possible values for each color gives us 6x6x6 possible unique colors... that is, 216. Written in decimal, the possible values for each color are 0, 51, 102, 204, and 255. Written in hexadecimal, the possible values are 00, 33, 66, 99, cc, and ff.

For a more detailed explanation of the way color works, you might want to look at Bob Schmitt's Web Color Primer in the November 1997 issue of Webreview.com. Webreview is an excellent source for HTML authoring information.