modern-color - Color Parsing/Conversion/Manipulation

An ESNext color lib (class) that simplifies color parsing and conversion as well as most common color functions. To visually see the channels (rgb / hsl / hsv / alpha) of a color, see this demo.

This library modernizes older color libs that exist with nicer syntax - making it easier to work with colors!

Raw Gist

Installation

npm i --save modern-color

Initialize

import {Color} from "modern-color";

Parsing examples (constructors)

| Constructor | Example | Comments | |:---------------|:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|:--------------------------------------------------------| | named color | Color.parse('salmon', [alpha]) | Any known HTML color name. This package exports a namedColors object you can also utilize. | | hex | Color.parse('#FA8072', [alpha]) | Will parse #RGB, #RRGGBB, and even #RRGGBBAA hexadecimal color formats.| | rgb (string) | Color.parse('rgba(250, 128, 114, 0.65)') or Color.parse('rgba(250 128 114 / 0.65)') | Standard CSS RGB format (either rgb or rgba) | | rgb (arguments) | Color.parse(250, 128, 114, 0.65) | Pass 3 or 4 (for alpha) numeric params as r, g, b, a | | rgb (object) | Color.parse({r:250, g:128, b:114, a:0.65}) | Pass a single object param containing r, g, b, and optionally a (alpha) values | | hsl (object) | Color.parse({h:6, s:93, l:71, a:0.65}) | Pass a single object param containing h, s, l (hue, saturation, luminosity) and optionally a (alpha) property values. | | hsv (object) | Color.parse({h:6, s:54, v:98, a:0.65}) | Pass a single object param containing h, s, v (hue, saturation, value) and optionally a (alpha) property values. | | cmyk (object) | Color.parse({c:0, m:49, y:54, k:2, a:0.65}) | Pass a single object param containing c, m, y, k (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) and optionally a (alpha) property values. | | rgb (array) | Color.parse([250, 128, 114, 0.65]) | Pass rgb values as a 3 or 4 (if using alpha) member array [r, g, b [, a]]. | | oklch (object) | Color.parse({l:0.7, c:0.1, h:40, a:0.8}) | Pass a single object param containing l (0-1), c (0+), h (0-360), and optionally a (alpha 0-1). |

The above examples return color class instances with identical r, g, and b values - they only differ in how they were constructed.

You can use new Color(constructor) or Color.parse(constructor). The alpha channel is optional in all formats (defaults to 1). This document assumes you are familiar with color min / max values per channel. Read more about colors. Invalid input returns null. 'transparent' is also supported and parses to rgba(0,0,0,0).

CYMK is supported in this module, but is not supported by any browsers currently. Thanks to renevanderlende for implementing this contribution.

Note - Normalized colors

No matter how the color is constructed, it is normalized to always contain r, g, and b values. For example:

// our fishy example ('salmon') constructed with h,s,l
const c = Color.parse({{h:6, s:93, l:71});

//constructor channels not there! Use getter!
console.log(c.h, c.hsl.h);//outputs: undefined, 6

// only r, g, and b
const {r, g, b} = c;
console.log({r, g, b});//{r:250, g:128, b:114}

c.b = 255;// directly mutate the color - makes pink salmon!
console.log(c.hsl, c.rgb); // {r:250, g:128, b:255}, {h:298, s:100, l:75}

Formats (property getters)

The example values are based on the same base color instance as above: Color.parse('rgba(250, 128, 114, 0.65)') or for no alpha Color.parse('rgb(250, 128, 114)')

| Getter | Value Type | Example | |:---------------------|:-----------|:--------------------------------------------------------| | rgb | Array | [250, 128, 114] | | rgba | Array | [250, 128, 114, 0.65] | | rgbObj | Object | {r:250, g:128, b:114, a:0.65} | | hsl | Object | {h:6, s:93, l:71} | | hsla | Object | {h:6, s:93, l:71, a:0.65} | | hsv | Object | {h:6, s:54, v:98} | | hsva | Object | {h:6, s:54, v:98, a:0.65} | | cmyk | Object | {c:0, m:49, y:54, k:2} | | cmyka | Object | {c:0, m:49, y:54, k:2, a:0.65} | | oklch | Object | {l:0.78, c:0.13, h:20, a:0.65} | | hslString | String | hsl(6, 93%, 71%) | | hslaString | String | hsla(6, 93%, 71%, 0.65) | | hsvString | String | hsv(6, 54%, 98%) | | cmykString | String | cmyk(0%, 49%, 54%, 2%) | | cmykaString | String | cmyka(0%, 49%, 54%, 2%, 0.65) | | oklchString | String | oklch(0.78 0.13 20) | | oklchaString | String | oklch(0.78 0.13 20 / 0.65) | | css | String | rgba(250, 128, 114, 0.65) or rgb(250, 128, 114) | | rgbString | String | rgba(250, 128, 114, 0.65) or rgb(250, 128, 114) | | rgbaString | String | rgba(250, 128, 114, 0.65) or rgba(250, 128, 114, 1) | | hex | String | #FA8072 | | hexa/rgbaHex | String | #FA8072A6 | | alpha | Number | 0.65 or defaults to 1 if no alpha channel | | isGrayScale | Boolean | false |

Note: css is an alias for rgbString. OKLCH values: l (lightness 0-1), c (chroma 0+), h (hue 0-360).

toString(format)

Accepts a format string ('rgb', 'hex', 'rgbaHex', 'hsl', 'hsla', 'hsv', 'cmyk', 'cmyka', 'oklch', 'oklcha') which will return the equivalent of calling the corresponding getter. Defaults to rgb.

console.log(color.toString(format));

Magic in Templates: Direct Color Usage

One of the coolest features of modern-color is that Color instances can be dropped directly into string templates or JSX— no need to manually call getters! The JavaScript engine automatically invokes toString() to convert them to CSS-friendly 'rgb' or 'rgba' strings. This makes your code cleaner and more intuitive.

Example:

const blue = Color.parse('blue');
const desaturatedBlue = blue.desaturate(0.5); // Chain methods for instant variations!

const template = `<div style="background-color: ${desaturatedBlue}; border: solid 1px ${blue}">Content</div>`;
// Renders as: <div style="background-color: rgba(64, 128, 255, 1); border: solid 1px rgba(0, 0, 255, 1)">Content</div>

This seamless integration works perfectly in modern frameworks like React, Vue, or Angular—try it and watch your color workflows become effortless and fun!

Color functions

These functions return new color instances and do not modify the original color. The ratio param must be a float (min:0, max:1).

The examples show hsl objects in places for clarity, but the color instance actually returned will not have these channel values unless you call color.hsl or color.hsv.

hue (aka rotate)

//accepts an int up to 359
//changes hue of a color
const deg = 270;
color.hue(deg);//color.rotate is an alias for hue

mix (aka blend)

Mix 2 colors together

//color2 can be a single color constructor (array, hex, rgbString, etc)
//examples using grayscale for simplicity
color = Color.parse([100,100,100]);
color2 = Color.parse([200,200,200]);
color.mix(color2, 0.25).rgb;//-->[125, 125, 125]
color2.mix(color, 0.25).rgb;//-->[175, 175, 175]

saturate/desaturate/grayscale

increase or decrease saturation by the specified ratio

color.saturate(0.3);//{h:10, s:50, l:50} -> {h:10, s:65, l:50}
color.desaturate(0.3);//{h:10, s:50, l:50} -> {h:10, s:35, l:50}

//grayscale() is shorthand for desaturate(1);
color.grayscale();//{h:10, s:50, l:50}->{h:10, s:0, l:50}

darken/lighten

Increase lightness or darkness by specified ratio

color.lighten(0.3);//{h:10, s:50, l:50} -> {h:10, s:50, l:65}
color.darken(0.3);//{h:10, s:50, l:50} -> {h:10, s:50, l:35}

fadeIn/fadeOut

Increase opacity or transparency by a given ratio.

//increase opacity (decrease transparency) by ratio
color.fadeIn(0.5);//{r:0, g:0, b:0, a:0.5}->{r:0, g:0, b:0, a:0.75}

//decrease opacity (increase transparency) by ratio
color.fadeOut(0.5);//{r:0, g:0, b:0, a:0.5}->{r:0, g:0, b:0, a:0.25}

negate

Subtract r, g, and b channel values from max (255)

color.negate(); //{r:0, g:128, b:200}->{r:255, g:127, b:55}

Obviously many well-known public algorithms and functions are involved here. Hope you enjoy!

Utility methods

These methods return new Color instances by modifying specific channels:

• toAlpha(alpha): Sets alpha (0-1), e.g. color.toAlpha(0.5)
• toHSVSaturation(saturation): Sets HSV saturation (0-100), e.g. color.toHSVSaturation(80)
• toHSLSaturation(saturation): Sets HSL saturation (0-100), e.g. color.toHSLSaturation(80)
• toLuminance(luminance): Sets HSL luminance (0-100), e.g. color.toLuminance(50)
• toHue(hue): Sets hue (0-360), e.g. color.toHue(180)
• toValue(value): Sets HSV value (0-100), e.g. color.toValue(90)
• toOklchLightness(lightness): Sets OKLCH lightness (0-1), e.g. color.toOklchLightness(0.7)
• toChroma(chroma): Sets OKLCH chroma (0+), e.g. color.toChroma(0.1)
• getShades(n = 10, space = 'hsl', startLight = 0.95, endLight = 0.05): Generates an array of n shades of the color by varying lightness from startLight to endLight in the specified space ('hsl' or 'oklch'), e.g. color.getShades(5, 'oklch')