CODEWITHSUNDEEP
colorshexvisual-effects
skillz21
skillz21

Reputation: 196

How do the numbers and letters differ in hexadecimal colours?

I had a look at how hexadecimal colour codes work, for the most part, it seems pretty simple. But one thing I don't understand. If I have the code #37136F, how does the 6 and the F work together? Does this mean that the two number values are added together? So the blue value is 21? Or do they add together like: 615? If it is added together (which I feel like if the most logical way) then the maximum value you can get is 30, which gives me a range of 0-30... I feel like this isn't right, please enlighten me.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 184

Answers (1)

k_ssb
k_ssb

Reputation: 6252

First you split the hex code into pairs of digits (so #37136F becomes 37, 13, and 6F), and those are the values for red, green, and blue respectively. Let's focus on the blue component, 6F.

6F is a two digit hexadecimal number (base 16). Just as 25 in base 10 is actually 2*10 + 5, 6F in hexadecimal is actually 6*16 + 15 = 111 in base 10. In general, if X and Y are hexadecimal digits (0 through F), then XY in base 16 is X*16 + Y.

Note that the minimum and maximum two-digit hex numbers are 00 and FF respectively, which equal 0*16 + 0 = 0 and 15*16 + 15 = 255 respectively. This is why RGB values range from 0 to 255 inclusive, when written in base 10.

Upvotes: 1

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