CSS Colors
CSS supports 140+ color names, HEX values, RGB values, RGBA values, HSL values,
HSLA values, and opacity.
RGBA Colors
RGBA color values are an extension of RGB color values with an alpha channel - which
specifies the opacity for a color.
An RGBA color value is specified with: rgba(red, green, blue, alpha). The alpha parameter is
a number between 0.0 (fully transparent) and 1.0 (fully opaque).
rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.2);
rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.4);
rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.6);
rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.8);
The following example defines different RGBA colors:
Example
#p1 {background-color: rgba(255, 0, 0, 0.3);} /* red with opacity */
#p2 {background-color: rgba(0, 255, 0, 0.3);} /* green with opacity */
#p3 {background-color: rgba(0, 0, 255, 0.3);} /* blue with opacity */
HSL Colors
HSL stands for Hue, Saturation and Lightness.
An HSL color value is specified with: hsl(hue, saturation, lightness).
Hue is a degree on the color wheel (from 0 to 360):
0 (or 360) is red
120 is green
240 is blue
Saturation is a percentage value: 100% is the full color.
Lightness is also a percentage; 0% is dark (black) and 100% is white.
hsl(0, 100%, 30%);
hsl(0, 100%, 50%);
hsl(0, 100%, 70%);
hsl(0, 100%, 90%);
The following example defines different HSL colors:
Example
#p1 {background-color: hsl(120, 100%, 50%);} /* green */
#p2 {background-color: hsl(120, 100%, 75%);} /* light green */
#p3 {background-color: hsl(120, 100%, 25%);} /* dark green */
#p4 {background-color: hsl(120, 60%, 70%);} /* pastel green */
HSLA Colors
HSLA color values are an extension of HSL color values with an alpha channel - which
specifies the opacity for a color.
An HSLA color value is specified with: hsla(hue, saturation, lightness, alpha), where the
alpha parameter defines the opacity. The alpha parameter is a number between 0.0 (fully
transparent) and 1.0 (fully opaque).
hsla(0, 100%, 30%, 0.3);
hsla(0, 100%, 50%, 0.3);
hsla(0, 100%, 70%, 0.3);
hsla(0, 100%, 90%, 0.3);
The following example defines different HSLA colors:
Example
#p1 {background-color: hsla(120, 100%, 50%, 0.3);} /* green with opacity */
#p2 {background-color: hsla(120, 100%, 75%, 0.3);} /* light green with opacity */
#p3 {background-color: hsla(120, 100%, 25%, 0.3);} /* dark green with opacity */
#p4 {background-color: hsla(120, 60%, 70%, 0.3);} /* pastel green with opacity */
Opacity
The CSS opacity property sets the opacity for the whole element (both background color and
text will be opaque/transparent).
The opacity property value must be a number between 0.0 (fully transparent) and 1.0 (fully
opaque).
rgb(255, 0, 0);opacity:0.2;
rgb(255, 0, 0);opacity:0.4;
rgb(255, 0, 0);opacity:0.6;
rgb(255, 0, 0);opacity:0.8;
Notice that the text above will also be transparent/opaque!
The following example shows different elements with opacity:
Example
#p1 {background-color:rgb(255,0,0);opacity:0.6;} /* red with opacity */
#p2 {background-color:rgb(0,255,0);opacity:0.6;} /* green with opacity */
#p3 {background-color:rgb(0,0,255);opacity:0.6;} /* blue with opacity */
Exercise
?
What does the alpha channel in RGBA and HSLA specify?
The hue of the color
The transparency of the color
The brightness of the color
The saturation of the color.
