Safe HTML Colors - 216 Web Safe Colors

Most modern computer displays can display up to 16 million colors, but to ensure that your web design works well for the widest possible audience, consider limiting your color choices to the 216 safe HTML colors. These "browser-safe" colors are designed to display accurately by all web browsers, without dithering, even on 256 color displays.

During the mid-1990s, when most personal computers could display only 256 different colors, the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems each reserved about 20 different system colors, leaving about 216 remaining colors for user applications. So a set of 216 Web Safe Colors was suggested as a World Wide Web standard. This 216 color palette is designed into popular graphics software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and GoLive as well as Dreamweaver and Paint Shop Pro.

Most computers today can display millions of different colors, so these 216 Web Safe Colors are not as important as they were 10 years ago. However, many internet-capable cell phones and PDAs now have 256 color displays, so it is still a good idea to use these colors where possible.

The HTML Color swatch tool is designed to help you work with these 216 Web Safe Colors exclusively. Below is a simplified version of this tool. Simply click any cell below to display a movable, resizable swatch of the indicated color.

000000 000033 000066 000099 0000cc 0000ff

003300 003333 003366 003399 0033cc 0033ff

006600 006633 006666 006699 0066cc 0066ff

009900 009933 009966 009999 0099cc 0099ff

00cc00 00cc33 00cc66 00cc99 00cccc 00ccff

00ff00 00ff33 00ff66 00ff99 00ffcc 00ffff

330000 330033 330066 330099 3300cc 3300ff

333300 333333 333366 333399 3333cc 3333ff

336600 336633 336666 336699 3366cc 3366ff

339900 339933 339966 339999 3399cc 3399ff

33cc00 33cc33 33cc66 33cc99 33cccc 33ccff

33ff00 33ff33 33ff66 33ff99 33ffcc 33ffff

660000 660033 660066 660099 6600cc 6600ff

663300 663333 663366 663399 6633cc 6633ff

666600 666633 666666 666699 6666cc 6666ff

669900 669933 669966 669999 6699cc 6699ff

66cc00 66cc33 66cc66 66cc99 66cccc 66ccff

66ff00 66ff33 66ff66 66ff99 66ffcc 66ffff

990000 990033 990066 990099 9900cc 9900ff

993300 993333 993366 993399 9933cc 9933ff

996600 996633 996666 996699 9966cc 9966ff

999900 999933 999966 999999 9999cc 9999ff

99cc00 99cc33 99cc66 99cc99 99cccc 99ccff

99ff00 99ff33 99ff66 99ff99 99ffcc 99ffff

cc0000 cc0033 cc0066 cc0099 cc00cc cc00ff

cc3300 cc3333 cc3366 cc3399 cc33cc cc33ff

cc6600 cc6633 cc6666 cc6699 cc66cc cc66ff

cc9900 cc9933 cc9966 cc9999 cc99cc cc99ff

cccc00 cccc33 cccc66 cccc99 cccccc ccccff

ccff00 ccff33 ccff66 ccff99 ccffcc ccffff

ff0000 ff0033 ff0066 ff0099 ff00cc ff00ff

ff3300 ff3333 ff3366 ff3399 ff33cc ff33ff

ff6600 ff6633 ff6666 ff6699 ff66cc ff66ff

ff9900 ff9933 ff9966 ff9999 ff99cc ff99ff

ffcc00 ffcc33 ffcc66 ffcc99 ffcccc ffccff

ffff00 ffff33 ffff66 ffff99 ffffcc ffffff

Web Safe HTML Colors

Web Safe HTML Colors