RGB to hex and hex to RGB

How to convert colors in RGB format to hex format and vice versa?

For example, convert '#0080C0' to (0, 128, 192).

Solution 1:

Note: both versions of rgbToHex expect integer values for r, g and b, so you'll need to do your own rounding if you have non-integer values.

The following will do to the RGB to hex conversion and add any required zero padding:

function componentToHex(c) {
  var hex = c.toString(16);
  return hex.length == 1 ? "0" + hex : hex;
}

function rgbToHex(r, g, b) {
  return "#" + componentToHex(r) + componentToHex(g) + componentToHex(b);
}

alert(rgbToHex(0, 51, 255)); // #0033ff

Converting the other way:

function hexToRgb(hex) {
  var result = /^#?([a-f\d]{2})([a-f\d]{2})([a-f\d]{2})$/i.exec(hex);
  return result ? {
    r: parseInt(result[1], 16),
    g: parseInt(result[2], 16),
    b: parseInt(result[3], 16)
  } : null;
}

alert(hexToRgb("#0033ff").g); // "51";

Finally, an alternative version of rgbToHex(), as discussed in @casablanca's answer and suggested in the comments by @cwolves:

function rgbToHex(r, g, b) {
  return "#" + ((1 << 24) + (r << 16) + (g << 8) + b).toString(16).slice(1);
}

alert(rgbToHex(0, 51, 255)); // #0033ff

Update 3 December 2012

Here's a version of hexToRgb() that also parses a shorthand hex triplet such as "#03F":

function hexToRgb(hex) {
  // Expand shorthand form (e.g. "03F") to full form (e.g. "0033FF")
  var shorthandRegex = /^#?([a-f\d])([a-f\d])([a-f\d])$/i;
  hex = hex.replace(shorthandRegex, function(m, r, g, b) {
    return r + r + g + g + b + b;
  });

  var result = /^#?([a-f\d]{2})([a-f\d]{2})([a-f\d]{2})$/i.exec(hex);
  return result ? {
    r: parseInt(result[1], 16),
    g: parseInt(result[2], 16),
    b: parseInt(result[3], 16)
  } : null;
}

alert(hexToRgb("#0033ff").g); // "51";
alert(hexToRgb("#03f").g); // "51";

Solution 2:

An alternative version of hexToRgb:

function hexToRgb(hex) {
    var bigint = parseInt(hex, 16);
    var r = (bigint >> 16) & 255;
    var g = (bigint >> 8) & 255;
    var b = bigint & 255;

    return r + "," + g + "," + b;
}

Edit: 3/28/2017 Here is another approach that seems to be even faster

function hexToRgbNew(hex) {
  var arrBuff = new ArrayBuffer(4);
  var vw = new DataView(arrBuff);
  vw.setUint32(0,parseInt(hex, 16),false);
  var arrByte = new Uint8Array(arrBuff);

  return arrByte[1] + "," + arrByte[2] + "," + arrByte[3];
}

Edit: 8/11/2017 The new approach above after more testing is not faster :(. Though it is a fun alternate way.

Solution 3:

ECMAScript 6 version of Tim Down's answer

Converting RGB to hex

const rgbToHex = (r, g, b) => '#' + [r, g, b].map(x => {
  const hex = x.toString(16)
  return hex.length === 1 ? '0' + hex : hex
}).join('')

console.log(rgbToHex(0, 51, 255)); // '#0033ff'

Converting hex to RGB

Returns an array [r, g, b]. Works also with shorthand hex triplets such as "#03F".

const hexToRgb = hex =>
  hex.replace(/^#?([a-f\d])([a-f\d])([a-f\d])$/i
             ,(m, r, g, b) => '#' + r + r + g + g + b + b)
    .substring(1).match(/.{2}/g)
    .map(x => parseInt(x, 16))

console.log(hexToRgb("#0033ff")) // [0, 51, 255]
console.log(hexToRgb("#03f")) // [0, 51, 255]

Bonus: RGB to hex using padStart() method

const rgbToHex = (r, g, b) => '#' + [r, g, b]
  .map(x => x.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')).join('')

console.log(rgbToHex(0, 51, 255)); // '#0033ff'

Note that this answer uses latest ECMAScript features, which are not supported in older browsers. If you want this code to work in all environments, you should use Babel to compile your code.

Solution 4:

Here's my version:

function rgbToHex(red, green, blue) {
  const rgb = (red << 16) | (green << 8) | (blue << 0);
  return '#' + (0x1000000 + rgb).toString(16).slice(1);
}

function hexToRgb(hex) {
  const normal = hex.match(/^#([0-9a-f]{2})([0-9a-f]{2})([0-9a-f]{2})$/i);
  if (normal) return normal.slice(1).map(e => parseInt(e, 16));

  const shorthand = hex.match(/^#([0-9a-f])([0-9a-f])([0-9a-f])$/i);
  if (shorthand) return shorthand.slice(1).map(e => 0x11 * parseInt(e, 16));

  return null;
}