Color Converter

HEX to RGB to HSL Color Converter – Convert Web Color Codes Instantly Online

Color codes are at the heart of everything visual in web development and UI design. Whether you are writing CSS, building a design system, configuring a Tailwind theme, or picking brand colors, you will constantly encounter values in HEX, RGB, and HSL formats — and frequently need to convert between them. This free online color converter makes those conversions instant and effortless. Enter any color value and get the equivalent in all three formats simultaneously, with a live visual preview so you always know exactly what color you are working with.

The Three Core Color Formats in Web Design

Each color format has its own strengths, and understanding the differences helps you choose the right one for each situation:

• HEX (#rrggbb) — The most widely used notation in CSS and HTML. It encodes red, green, and blue channels as two-digit hexadecimal values. For example, #3498db is a mid-tone blue. HEX is compact and universally supported, making it the default choice in most codebases.
• RGB (red, green, blue) — Specifies the intensity of each color channel on a scale from 0 to 255. rgb(52, 152, 219) is that same blue in RGB. This format is intuitive when you think of mixing light, and it becomes essential when you need transparency via rgba().
• HSL (hue, saturation, lightness) — Expresses color as a hue angle (0–360°) combined with saturation and lightness percentages. hsl(204, 70%, 53%) represents the same blue. HSL is significantly more intuitive for creating and adjusting color palettes, since changing just the lightness or saturation produces predictable, readable results.

When Do You Need to Convert Color Codes?

Color conversion comes up in many common development and design workflows:

• A design tool like Figma or Adobe XD gives you a HEX code, but your CSS uses RGB or HSL custom properties
• You are setting up a design token system and need all three formats documented for consistency
• You want to create color variations by adjusting HSL lightness — much easier than guessing in HEX
• A client or brand guideline provides colors in HEX and you need them in RGB for a different platform or framework
• You are debugging a color mismatch between a design mockup and the live UI implementation
• You are learning about color theory and want to understand how the same color looks expressed in different systems

How to Use the Color Converter

1. Select the input format — HEX, RGB, or HSL — using the toggle or tab.
2. Enter your color value in the corresponding input fields.
3. The equivalent values in all other formats appear instantly in the output panels.
4. A live color preview box shows the exact color so you can visually verify the result.
5. Copy any value to your clipboard with a single click.

There is no submit button — conversion happens in real time as you type. As soon as a valid color value is detected, the outputs update automatically.

HEX vs RGB vs HSL — Which Should You Use in CSS?

All three formats are fully valid in modern CSS, and the choice often comes down to context and team convention. HEX is the most compact and works everywhere. RGB is the go-to when you need alpha transparency via rgba() or the newer four-value syntax. HSL is arguably the most developer-friendly format when building color palettes, generating theme variants, or creating dark mode and light mode color sets, because adjusting a single parameter (lightness) produces an entire range of predictable shades.

Many design systems and component libraries standardize on HSL for this reason. If your project uses CSS custom properties for theming, HSL makes it trivial to create accessible, consistent color scales just by adjusting the L value.

Tips for Working Effectively with Web Colors

• Use HSL when building theme palettes — it makes dark mode and light mode variants simple to generate programmatically
• Use HEX for one-off colors in HTML attributes or legacy CSS files
• Use RGBA when you need transparency control on overlays, backgrounds, or borders
• Always test color contrast ratios against a contrast checker before finalizing text and background combinations for accessibility (WCAG 2.1 requires a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text)
• Keep a reference of your brand colors in all three formats for quick access across different tools and platforms

This color converter removes the arithmetic entirely and gives you all three formats at once. No formulas, no mental conversion — just type your value, see all the equivalents instantly, and copy whatever you need.