Named Colors Tab (Color Picker Dialog Box)

Allows you to select one of 140 colors and return either the name of a color or its hex value. You can also use this tab to check the hex value for a color or the name for a color hex value.

Browsers recognize a basic set of 16 color names such as "Red," "Olive," and "Lime." Some browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer recognize 126 additional names, such as "DarkRed," "Goldenrod," and LawnGreen," for a total of 140 names. The Named Colors tab allows you to select a color and return the correct corresponding name to your page.

Alternatively, you can select a color and return its corresponding hex value. This is often a good idea if you are not sure what browser a user will have when using your application. Even if a browser does not recognize a color name, it will be able to process a color hex value.

The way in which colors are displayed by the browser depends on the color depth of the user's computer. Most computers can display at least 16 basic colors as solid colors, and additional colors as mixtures of the basic 16 (called "dithering.colors"). Computers set to a higher color depth can display all colors as solid colors.

Tip   For best results when creating an application for a variety of browsers and computers, limit yourself to the 16 basic colors. If you want to select from a larger palette, use the colors displayed in the Safety Palette tab.

Options

Basic

Displays a palette of the colors supported on 16-color computers. The colors in the basic palette are always displayed as solid colors.

Additional

Displays a palette of the additional 124 named colors. The appearance of the colors in the additional palette depends on the current color depth setting of your computer. For example, if your computer is set to display 256 colors, some or all of the colors in the additional palette will be dithered. However, the color value returned by the dialog box is not affected by the color depth of your computer.

Use Color Names

Specifies that the dialog box returns the text name of the selected color. If this option is not selected, the dialog box returns the selected color's hex value.

Color

Displays the name and hex value for the currently selected color. The value in parentheses is displayed for information only. The actual value returned by the Color Picker dialog box is the value not in parentheses. For example, if Use Color Names is selected, the hex value is in parentheses.