colortranslator

A JavaScript library, written in TypeScript, to convert among different color models

Usage no npm install needed!

<script type="module">
  import colortranslator from 'https://cdn.skypack.dev/colortranslator';
</script>

README


A JavaScript library, written in TypeScript, to convert among different color models

Build Status   Coverage Status   npm version

Demo

https://elchininet.github.io/ColorTranslator/

Installation

Using NPM

npm install colortranslator

Using Yarn

yarn add colortranslator

In the browser

It is possible to include a compiled version of the package directly in an HTML file. It will create a global colortranslator object containing all the exported modules that can be accessed from anywhere in your JavaScript code.

  1. Copy the JavaScript file colortranslator.js, located in the dist/web/ folder
  2. Put it in the folder that you prefer in your web server
  3. Include it in your HTML file
<script src="wherever/you/installed/colortranslator.js"></script>

/* There will be a global variable named colortranslator containing all the modules */
colortranslator.ColorTranslator;
colortranslator.Harmony;
colortranslator.Mix;

Importing using CommonJS

const { ColorTranslator, Harmony, Mix } = require('colortranslator');

Importing using ES6 modules

import { ColorTranslator, Harmony, Mix } from 'colortranslator';

Scripts

build

npm run build

Transpiles the TypeScript code and creates three bundles in the dist folder (index.js for commonjs, esm/index.js for ESM, and web/colortranslator.js to use directly in the browser).

test

npm run test

Runs multiple dynamic tests converting from / to all the color models available (excepting CMYK) using a table of colors.

lint

npm run lint

Runs eslint in source files.

demo

npm run demo

Opens a development server that provides live reloading using webpack-dev-server. Some demo examples located in the @demo folder will be shown. You can modify the code of the demos and the changes will be live reloaded in the browser.

API

Note: The conversion to a CMYK color is made taking a random value of black as a base (in this case, taking the greater value from red, green or blue). When a value of black is assumed, the rest of the colors can be calculated from it. The result will be visually similar to the original light color, but if you try to convert it back you will not obtain the same original value.

Input

The input can be a CSS string or an object:

CSS string inputs
Example of CSS string inputs Description
fuchsia Color keyword
#FF00FF Hexadecimal color
#F0F Shorthand hexadecimal color
#FF00FF80 Hexadecimal color with alpha
rgb(255, 0, 255) Functional RGB notation
rgba(255, 0, 255, 0.5) Functional RGB notation with alpha
hsl(300, 100%, 50%) Functional HSL notation
hsla(300, 100%, 50%, 0.5) Functional HSL notation with alpha
cmyk(0%, 100%, 100%, 0%) Functional CMYK notation with percentages
cmyk(0, 1, 1, 0) Functional CMYK notation with numbers
device-cmyk(0%, 100%, 100%, 0%) Device-dependent functional CMYK notation with percentages
device-cmyk(0, 1, 1, 0) Device-dependent functional CMYK notation with numbers
Object inputs
Example of object inputs Description
{r: "0xFF", g: "0x00", b: "0xFF"} Hexadecimal color
{r: "0xF", g: "0x0", b: "0xF"} Shorthand hexadecimal color
{r: "0xFF", g: "0x00", b: "0xFF", a: "0x80"} Hexadecimal color with alpha
{r: 255, g: 0, b: 255} RGB notation
{r: 255, g: 0, b: 255, a: 0.5} RGB notation with alpha
{h: 300, s: "100%", l: "50%"} HSL notation using percentages
{h: 300, s: 100, l: 50} HSL notation using numbers
{h: 300, s: "100%", l: "50%", a: 0.5} HSL notation with alpha using percentages
{h: 300, s: 100, l: 50, a: 0.5} HSL notation with alpha using numbers
{c: "0%", m: "100%", y: "100%", k: "0%"} CMYK notation using percentages
{c: 0, m: 1, y: 1, k: 0} CMYK notation using numbers

Class instantiation

It is possible to instantiate the class using any of the previous inputs:

Class instantiation examples
const keyword = new ColorTranslator('deeppink');

const hex = new ColorTranslator('#FF00FF');

const rgb = new ColorTranslator('rgb(255, 0, 0)');

const hsl = new ColorTranslator('hsl(50, 20%, 90%)');

const hsla = new ColorTranslator({ r: 115, g: 200, b: 150, a: 0.5 });

const cmyk = new ColorTranslator({ c: 100, m: 100, y: 0, k: 0 });

Class public methods

There are 11 chainable public methods and all of them accept a number as input:

Public methods Input Description
setH 0 ≤ input ≤ 360 Set the color hue
setS 0 ≤ input ≤ 100 Set the color saturation percentage
setL 0 ≤ input ≤ 100 Set the color lightness percentage
setR 0 ≤ input ≤ 255 Set the red value of the color
setG 0 ≤ input ≤ 255 Set the green value of the color
setB 0 ≤ input ≤ 255 Set the blue value of the color
setC 0 ≤ input ≤ 100 Set the CMYK cyan percentage value of the color
setM 0 ≤ input ≤ 100 Set the CMYK magenta percentage value of the color
setY 0 ≤ input ≤ 100 Set the CMYK yellow percentage value of the color
setK 0 ≤ input ≤ 100 Set the CMYK black percentage value of the color
setA 0 ≤ input ≤ 1 Set the alpha value of the color
Class public methods examples

You can also consult the demo 1 and the demo 2 to check the use of the public methods.

const color = new ColorTranslator('#FF00FF');

color
  .setH(120)
  .setS(80)
  .setA(0.5);

color
  .setR(255)
  .setG(150)
  .setA(0.25);

Class public readonly properties

There are 7 properties to get the CSS representation of the color:

Property Description
HEX Get the the object hex representation of the color
HEXA Get the the object hexa representation of the color
RGB Get the the object rgb representation of the color
RGBA Get the the object rgba representation of the color
HSL Get the the object hsl representation of the color
HSLA Get the the object hsla representation of the color
CMYK Get the the object cmyk representation of the color

There are 7 properties to get the object representation of the color:

Property Description
HEXObject Get the the object hex representation of the color
HEXAObject Get the the object hexa representation of the color
RGBObject Get the the object rgb representation of the color
RGBAObject Get the the object rgba representation of the color
HSLObject Get the the object hsl representation of the color
HSLAObject Get the the object hsla representation of the color
CMYKObject Get the the object cmyk representation of the color

There are 11 properties to get the individual color values:

Property Description
H Get the color hue
S Get the color saturation percentage
L Get the color lightness percentage
R Get the red value of the color
G Get the green value of the color
B Get the blue value of the color
C Get the CMYK cyan percentage value of the color
M Get the CMYK magenta percentage value of the color
Y Get the CMYK yellow percentage value of the color
K Get the CMYK black percentage value of the color
A Get the alpha value of the color
Class public properties examples

You can also consult the demo 1 and the demo 2 to check the use of the public properties.

const color = new ColorTranslator('#FF00FF');

color.R; // 255
color.G; // 0
color.B; // 255
color.RGB; // rgb(255,0,255)
color.HSLA; // hsla(300,100%,50%,1)

Class static methods

It is not needed to specify the input color model for any of the methods, the API will detect the format. You only need to specify to which color model you want to convert calling the specific static method.

There are 22 static methods available, 7 of them to convert colors, 6 to create color blends, one to get shades, one to get tints, 6 to mix colors, and one to create color harmonies.

Color conversion static methods

The static methods to convert colors accept any of the mentioned inputs as the first parameter. The second parameter is optional and it specifies if the output should be a CSS string or an object:

convertColorStaticMethod(
  color: string | object,
  css: boolean = true
)
Color conversion static methods description
Static method Description
toHEX Convert to an hexadecimal notation
toHEXA Convert to an hexadecimal notation with alpha
toRGB Convert to an RGB notation
toRGBA Convert to an RGB notation with alpha
toHSL Convert to an HSL notation
toHSLA Convert to an HSL notation with alpha
toCMYK Convert to a CMYK notation
Color conversion static methods examples
ColorTranslator.toHEX('gold'); // #FFD700

ColorTranslator.toRGB('#FF00FF'); // rgb(255,0,255)

ColorTranslator.toRGBA('hsl(50, 20%, 90%)'); // rgba(235,233,224,1)

ColorTranslator.toHSL('rgb(255, 0, 0)'); // hsl(0,100%,50%)

ColorTranslator.toHSLA('rgba(0, 255, 255, 0.5)'); // hsla(180,100%,50%,0.5)

ColorTranslator.toCMYK('#F0F', false); // {c: 0, m: 100, y: 0, k: 0}

ColorTranslator.toCMYK('#F0F'); // cmyk(0%,100%,0%,0%)

ColorTranslator.toRGB({ h: 115, s: '70%', l: '45%' }); // rgb(48,195,34)

ColorTranslator.toHSLA({ r: 115, g: 200, b: 150, a: 0.5 }); // hsla(145,44%,62%,0.5)

You can also consult the demo 3, and the demo 4 to check the use of these static methods.

Color blends static methods

The static methods to create color blends accept any of the mentioned inputs as the first and second parameter, the third parameter is optional and it is the number of steps of the blending, and the fourth parameter is also optional and it specifies if the output colors should be a CSS string or an object:

getBlendColorsStaticMethod(
  fromColor: string | object,
  toColor: string | object,
  steps: number = 5,
  css: boolean = true
)
Color blends static methods description
Static method Description
getBlendHEX Create an array relative to the blend between two colors in hexadecimal notation
getBlendHEXA Create an array relative to the blend between two colors in hexadecimal notation with alpha
getBlendRGB Create an array relative to the blend between two colors in RGB notation
getBlendRGBA Create an array relative to the blend between two colors in RGB notation with alpha
getBlendHSL Create an array relative to the blend between two colors in HSL notation
getBlendHSLA Create an array relative to the blend between two colors in HSL notation with alpha
Color blends static methods examples
ColorTranslator.getBlendHEX('#FF0000', '#0000FF', 5);

// [
//   "#FF0000",
//   "#BF003F",
//   "#7F007F",
//   "#3F00BF",
//   "#0000FF"
// ]

ColorTranslator.getBlendHSLA('#FF000000', '#0000FFFF', 3);

// [
//   "hsla(0,100%,50%,0)",
//   "hsla(300,100%,25%,0.5)",
//   "hsla(240,100%,50%,1)"
// ]

ColorTranslator.getBlendRGBA('#F000', 'rgba(0,0,255,1)', 5, false);

// [
//   {r: 255, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0},
//   {r: 191.25, g: 0, b: 63.75, a: 0.25},
//   {r: 127.5, g: 0, b: 127.5, a: 0.5},
//   {r: 63.75, g: 0, b: 191.25, a: 0.75},
//   {r: 0, g: 0, b: 255, a: 1}
// ]

You can also consult the demo 5 to check the use of these static methods.

Color shades and color tints static methods

The static methods to get shades or tints of a color accept any of the mentioned inputs as the first parameter, and a second parameter that specifies the number of shades or tints that should be returned. This method will return the colors in the same format that was sent as input:

getShades(
  color: string | object,
  shades: number
)

getTints(
  color: string | object,
  tints: number
)
Color shades and color tints static methods description
Static method Description
getShades Get shades of a colour (mix the color with black increasing its darkness)
getTints Get tints of a colour (mix the color with white increasing its lightness)
Color shades and color tints static methods examples
ColorTranslator.getShades('#FF0000', 5);

// [
//   "#D40000",
//   "#AA0000",
//   "#800000",
//   "#550000",
//   "#2A0000"
// ]

ColorTranslator.getTints({r: 255, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0.5}, 5);

// [
//   {r: 255, g: 43, b: 43, a: 0.5},
//   {r: 255, g: 85, b: 85, a: 0.5},
//   {r: 255, g: 128, b: 128, a: 0.5},
//   {r: 255, g: 170, b: 170, a: 0.5},
//   {r: 255, g: 213, b: 213, a: 0.5}
// ]

You can also consult the demo 6 to check the use of these static methods.

Color mix static methods

The static methods to mix colors accept an array of any of the mentioned inputs as the first parameter. The second parameter is optional and specifies the mixing mode (by default it will be Mix.ADDITIVE). The third parameter is also optional and it specifies if the output should be a CSS string or an object:

Note: The subtractive mix simulates the mixing of pigments, to achieve this, the rgb colors are converted to ryb color model, the addition is performed in this mode and at the end the result is converted back to rgb. The result is OK most of the time, but as this is not a real mix of pigments, sometimes the result could differ from the reality.

getMixColorsStaticMethod(
  colors: [string | object][],
  mode: Mix = Mix.ADDITIVE,
  css: boolean = true
)
Color mix static methods description
Static method Description
getMixHEX Get the mix of the input colors in hexadecimal notation
getMixHEXA Get the mix of the input colors in hexadecimal notation with alpha
getMixRGB Get the mix of the input colors in RGB notation
getMixRGBA Get the mix of the input colors in RGB notation with alpha
getMixHSL Get the mix of the input colors in HSL notation
getMixHSLA Get the mix of the input colors in HSL notation with alpha
Color mix static methods examples
ColorTranslator.getMixHEX(['#FF0000', '#0000FF']);

// #FF00FF

ColorTranslator.getMixHSL(['rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)', '#00FF00']);

// hsl(60,100%,50%)

ColorTranslator.getMixHEXA(['#F00', 'rgb(0, 0, 255)'], Mix.ADDITIVE, true);

// { r: '0xFF', g: '0x00', b: '0xFF', a: '0xFF' }

ColorTranslator.getMixHEX(['#FF0', '#F00'], Mix.SUBTRACTIVE);

// #FF7F00

You can also consult the demo 7 and demo 8 to check the use of these static methods.

Color harmonies static method

The static method to create color harmonies accepts three parmeters, the first one could be any of the mentioned inputs, the second one is optional and it is to specify the kind of harmony (by default it will be Harmony.COMPLEMENTARY), and the third one is also optional and it specifies if the returned harmony is based on additive or subtractive colors (by default it will be Mix.ADDITIVE). This method will return the colors in the same format that was sent as input:

getHarmony(
  color: string | object
  harmony: Harmony = Harmony.COMPLEMENTARY,
  mode: Mix = Mix.ADDITIVE
)
Color harmonies static method description
Static method Description
getHarmony Return an array of colors representing the harmony requested. The first color will be the same that was sent as input
Available armonies
Harmony Description Returned colors
ANALOGOUS Returns the same color plus the two relative analogous colours 3
COMPLEMENTARY Returns the same color plus the relative complementary color 2
SPLIT_COMPLEMENTARY Returns the same color plus the two relative split complementary colours 3
SQUARE Returns the same color plus the three relative evenly square colours 4
TETRADIC Returns the same color plus the three relative tetradic colours 4
TRIADIC Returns the same color plus the two relative evenly triadic colors 3
Color harmonies static method examples
ColorTranslator.getHarmony('#FF00FF');

// ["#FF00FF", "#00FF00"]

ColorTranslator.getHarmony('rgba(0, 255, 255, 0.5)', Harmony.ANALOGOUS);

// [
//   "rgba(0,255,255,0.5)",
//   "rgba(0,128,255,0.5)",
//   "rgba(0,255,128,0.5)"
// ]

ColorTranslator.getHarmony({ r: 115, g: 200, b: 150, a: 0.5 }, Harmony.COMPLEMENTARY);

// [
//   {r: 115, g: 201, b: 151, a: 0.5},
//   {r: 201, g: 115, b: 165, a: 0.5}
// ]

ColorTranslator.getHarmony('#FF0000', Harmony.COMPLEMENTARY, Mix.SUBTRACTIVE);

// ["#FF0000", "#00FF00"]

You can also consult the demo 9 and demo 10 to check the use of this static method.

TypeScript Support

The package has its own type definitions, so it can be used in a TypeScript project without any issues. The next interfaces are exposed and can be imported in your project:

HEXObject

This type is returned by the HEXObject, and HEXAObject properties, the toHEX, toHEXA, getBlendHEX, getBlendHEXA, getMixHEX, and getMixHEXA methods (when the css property is false), and the getHarmony method (when the input is an HEXObject).

interface HEXObject {
    r: string;
    g: string;
    b: string;
    a?: string;
}
RGBObject

This type is returned by the RGBObject, and RGBAObject properties, the toRGB, toRGBA, getBlendRGB, getBlendRGBA, getMixRGB, and getMixRGBA methods (when the css property is false), and the getHarmony method (when the input is an RGBObject).

interface RGBObject {
    r: number;
    g: number;
    b: number;
    a?: number;
}
HSLObject

This type is returned by the HSLObject, and HSLAObject properties, the toHSL, toHSLA, getBlendHSL, getBlendHSLA, getMixHSL, and getMixHSLA methods (when the css property is false), and the getHarmony method (when the input is an HSLObject).

interface HSLObject {
    h: number;
    s: number;
    l: number;
    a?: number;
}
CMYKObject

This type is returned by the CMYKObject property, and the toCMYK method.

interface CMYKObject {
    c: number;
    m: number;
    y: number;
    k: number;
}