Given a system (a website for instance) that lets a user customize the background color for some section but not the font color (to keep number of options to a minimum), is there a way to programmatically determine if a "light" or "dark" font color is necessary?
I'm sure there is some algorithm, but I don't know enough about colors, luminosity, etc to figure it out on my own.
I encountered similar problem. I had to find a good method of selecting contrastive font color to display text labels on colorscales/heatmaps. It had to be universal method and generated color had to be "good looking", which means that simple generating complementary color was not good solution - sometimes it generated strange, very intensive colors that were hard to watch and read.
After long hours of testing and trying to solve this problem, I found out that the best solution is to select white font for "dark" colors, and black font for "bright" colors.
Here's an example of function I am using in C#:
Color ContrastColor(Color color)
{
int d = 0;
// Counting the perceptive luminance - human eye favors green color...
double luminance = ( 0.299 * color.R + 0.587 * color.G + 0.114 * color.B)/255;
if (luminance > 0.5)
d = 0; // bright colors - black font
else
d = 255; // dark colors - white font
return Color.FromArgb(d, d, d);
}
This was tested for many various colorscales (rainbow, grayscale, heat, ice, and many others) and is the only "universal" method I found out.
Edit
Changed the formula of counting a to "perceptive luminance" - it really looks better! Already implemented it in my software, looks great.
Edit 2 @WebSeed provided a great working example of this algorithm: http://codepen.io/WebSeed/full/pvgqEq/
Just in case someone would like a shorter, maybe easier to understand version of GaceK's answer:
public Color ContrastColor(Color iColor)
{
// Calculate the perceptive luminance (aka luma) - human eye favors green color...
double luma = ((0.299 * iColor.R) + (0.587 * iColor.G) + (0.114 * iColor.B)) / 255;
// Return black for bright colors, white for dark colors
return luma > 0.5 ? Color.Black : Color.White;
}
Note: I removed the inversion of the luma value (to make bright colors have a higher value, what seems more natural to me and is also the 'default' calculation method.
I used the same constants as GaceK from here since they worked great for me.
(You can also implement this as an Extension Method using the following signature:
public static Color ContrastColor(this Color iColor)
You can then call it via foregroundColor = background.ContrastColor().)
Thank you @Gacek. Here's a version for Android:
@ColorInt
public static int getContrastColor(@ColorInt int color) {
// Counting the perceptive luminance - human eye favors green color...
double a = 1 - (0.299 * Color.red(color) + 0.587 * Color.green(color) + 0.114 * Color.blue(color)) / 255;
int d;
if (a < 0.5) {
d = 0; // bright colors - black font
} else {
d = 255; // dark colors - white font
}
return Color.rgb(d, d, d);
}
And an improved (shorter) version:
@ColorInt
public static int getContrastColor(@ColorInt int color) {
// Counting the perceptive luminance - human eye favors green color...
double a = 1 - (0.299 * Color.red(color) + 0.587 * Color.green(color) + 0.114 * Color.blue(color)) / 255;
return a < 0.5 ? Color.BLACK : Color.WHITE;
}
My Swift implementation of Gacek's answer:
func contrastColor(color: UIColor) -> UIColor {
var d = CGFloat(0)
var r = CGFloat(0)
var g = CGFloat(0)
var b = CGFloat(0)
var a = CGFloat(0)
color.getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a)
// Counting the perceptive luminance - human eye favors green color...
let luminance = 1 - ((0.299 * r) + (0.587 * g) + (0.114 * b))
if luminance < 0.5 {
d = CGFloat(0) // bright colors - black font
} else {
d = CGFloat(1) // dark colors - white font
}
return UIColor( red: d, green: d, blue: d, alpha: a)
}
Thanks for this post.
For whoever might be interested, here's an example of that function in Delphi:
function GetContrastColor(ABGColor: TColor): TColor;
var
ADouble: Double;
R, G, B: Byte;
begin
if ABGColor <= 0 then
begin
Result := clWhite;
Exit; // *** EXIT RIGHT HERE ***
end;
if ABGColor = clWhite then
begin
Result := clBlack;
Exit; // *** EXIT RIGHT HERE ***
end;
// Get RGB from Color
R := GetRValue(ABGColor);
G := GetGValue(ABGColor);
B := GetBValue(ABGColor);
// Counting the perceptive luminance - human eye favors green color...
ADouble := 1 - (0.299 * R + 0.587 * G + 0.114 * B) / 255;
if (ADouble < 0.5) then
Result := clBlack // bright colors - black font
else
Result := clWhite; // dark colors - white font
end;
Ugly Python if you don't feel like writing it :)
'''
Input a string without hash sign of RGB hex digits to compute
complementary contrasting color such as for fonts
'''
def contrasting_text_color(hex_str):
(r, g, b) = (hex_str[:2], hex_str[2:4], hex_str[4:])
return '000' if 1 - (int(r, 16) * 0.299 + int(g, 16) * 0.587 + int(b, 16) * 0.114) / 255 < 0.5 else 'fff'
This is such a helpful answer. Thanks for it!
I'd like to share an SCSS version:
@function is-color-light( $color ) {
// Get the components of the specified color
$red: red( $color );
$green: green( $color );
$blue: blue( $color );
// Compute the perceptive luminance, keeping
// in mind that the human eye favors green.
$l: 1 - ( 0.299 * $red + 0.587 * $green + 0.114 * $blue ) / 255;
@return ( $l < 0.5 );
}
Now figuring out how to use the algorithm to auto-create hover colors for menu links. Light headers get a darker hover, and vice-versa.
I had the same problem but i had to develop it in PHP. I used @Garek's solution and i also used this answer: Convert hex color to RGB values in PHP to convert HEX color code to RGB.
So i'm sharing it.
I wanted to use this function with given Background HEX color, but not always starting from '#'.
//So it can be used like this way:
$color = calculateColor('#804040');
echo $color;
//or even this way:
$color = calculateColor('D79C44');
echo '<br/>'.$color;
function calculateColor($bgColor){
//ensure that the color code will not have # in the beginning
$bgColor = str_replace('#','',$bgColor);
//now just add it
$hex = '#'.$bgColor;
list($r, $g, $b) = sscanf($hex, "#%02x%02x%02x");
$color = 1 - ( 0.299 * $r + 0.587 * $g + 0.114 * $b)/255;
if ($color < 0.5)
$color = '#000000'; // bright colors - black font
else
$color = '#ffffff'; // dark colors - white font
return $color;
}
Based on Gacek's answer, and after analyzing @WebSeed's example with the WAVE browser extension, I've come up with the following version that chooses black or white text based on contrast ratio (as defined in W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1), instead of luminance.
This is the code (in javascript):
// As defined in WCAG 2.1
var relativeLuminance = function (R8bit, G8bit, B8bit) {
var RsRGB = R8bit / 255.0;
var GsRGB = G8bit / 255.0;
var BsRGB = B8bit / 255.0;
var R = (RsRGB <= 0.03928) ? RsRGB / 12.92 : Math.pow((RsRGB + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);
var G = (GsRGB <= 0.03928) ? GsRGB / 12.92 : Math.pow((GsRGB + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);
var B = (BsRGB <= 0.03928) ? BsRGB / 12.92 : Math.pow((BsRGB + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);
return 0.2126 * R + 0.7152 * G + 0.0722 * B;
};
var blackContrast = function(r, g, b) {
var L = relativeLuminance(r, g, b);
return (L + 0.05) / 0.05;
};
var whiteContrast = function(r, g, b) {
var L = relativeLuminance(r, g, b);
return 1.05 / (L + 0.05);
};
// If both options satisfy AAA criterion (at least 7:1 contrast), use preference
// else, use higher contrast (white breaks tie)
var chooseFGcolor = function(r, g, b, prefer = 'white') {
var Cb = blackContrast(r, g, b);
var Cw = whiteContrast(r, g, b);
if(Cb >= 7.0 && Cw >= 7.0) return prefer;
else return (Cb > Cw) ? 'black' : 'white';
};
A working example may be found in my fork of @WebSeed's codepen, which produces zero low contrast errors in WAVE.
+ (UIColor*) getContrastColor:(UIColor*) color {
CGFloat red, green, blue, alpha;
[color getRed:&red green:&green blue:&blue alpha:&alpha];
double a = ( 0.299 * red + 0.587 * green + 0.114 * blue);
return (a > 0.5) ? [[UIColor alloc]initWithRed:0 green:0 blue:0 alpha:1] : [[UIColor alloc]initWithRed:255 green:255 blue:255 alpha:1];
}
iOS Swift 3.0 (UIColor extension):
func isLight() -> Bool
{
if let components = self.cgColor.components, let firstComponentValue = components[0], let secondComponentValue = components[1], let thirdComponentValue = components[2] {
let firstComponent = (firstComponentValue * 299)
let secondComponent = (secondComponentValue * 587)
let thirdComponent = (thirdComponentValue * 114)
let brightness = (firstComponent + secondComponent + thirdComponent) / 1000
if brightness < 0.5
{
return false
}else{
return true
}
}
print("Unable to grab components and determine brightness")
return nil
}
Swift 4 Example:
extension UIColor {
var isLight: Bool {
let components = cgColor.components
let firstComponent = ((components?[0]) ?? 0) * 299
let secondComponent = ((components?[1]) ?? 0) * 587
let thirdComponent = ((components?[2]) ?? 0) * 114
let brightness = (firstComponent + secondComponent + thirdComponent) / 1000
return !(brightness < 0.6)
}
}
UPDATE - Found that 0.6 was a better test bed for the query
Note there is an algorithm for this in the google closure library that references a w3c recommendation: http://www.w3.org/TR/AERT#color-contrast. However, in this API you provide a list of suggested colors as a starting point.
/**
* Find the "best" (highest-contrast) of the suggested colors for the prime
* color. Uses W3C formula for judging readability and visual accessibility:
* http://www.w3.org/TR/AERT#color-contrast
* @param {goog.color.Rgb} prime Color represented as a rgb array.
* @param {Array<goog.color.Rgb>} suggestions Array of colors,
* each representing a rgb array.
* @return {!goog.color.Rgb} Highest-contrast color represented by an array.
*/
goog.color.highContrast = function(prime, suggestions) {
var suggestionsWithDiff = [];
for (var i = 0; i < suggestions.length; i++) {
suggestionsWithDiff.push({
color: suggestions[i],
diff: goog.color.yiqBrightnessDiff_(suggestions[i], prime) +
goog.color.colorDiff_(suggestions[i], prime)
});
}
suggestionsWithDiff.sort(function(a, b) { return b.diff - a.diff; });
return suggestionsWithDiff[0].color;
};
/**
* Calculate brightness of a color according to YIQ formula (brightness is Y).
* More info on YIQ here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YIQ. Helper method for
* goog.color.highContrast()
* @param {goog.color.Rgb} rgb Color represented by a rgb array.
* @return {number} brightness (Y).
* @private
*/
goog.color.yiqBrightness_ = function(rgb) {
return Math.round((rgb[0] * 299 + rgb[1] * 587 + rgb[2] * 114) / 1000);
};
/**
* Calculate difference in brightness of two colors. Helper method for
* goog.color.highContrast()
* @param {goog.color.Rgb} rgb1 Color represented by a rgb array.
* @param {goog.color.Rgb} rgb2 Color represented by a rgb array.
* @return {number} Brightness difference.
* @private
*/
goog.color.yiqBrightnessDiff_ = function(rgb1, rgb2) {
return Math.abs(
goog.color.yiqBrightness_(rgb1) - goog.color.yiqBrightness_(rgb2));
};
/**
* Calculate color difference between two colors. Helper method for
* goog.color.highContrast()
* @param {goog.color.Rgb} rgb1 Color represented by a rgb array.
* @param {goog.color.Rgb} rgb2 Color represented by a rgb array.
* @return {number} Color difference.
* @private
*/
goog.color.colorDiff_ = function(rgb1, rgb2) {
return Math.abs(rgb1[0] - rgb2[0]) + Math.abs(rgb1[1] - rgb2[1]) +
Math.abs(rgb1[2] - rgb2[2]);
};
base R version of @Gacek's answer to get luminance (you can apply your own threshold easily)
# vectorized
luminance = function(col) c(c(.299, .587, .114) %*% col2rgb(col)/255)
Usage:
luminance(c('black', 'white', '#236FAB', 'darkred', '#01F11F'))
# [1] 0.0000000 1.0000000 0.3730039 0.1629843 0.5698039
If you're manipulating color spaces for visual effect it's generally easier to work in HSL (Hue, Saturation and Lightness) than RGB. Moving colours in RGB to give naturally pleasing effects tends to be quite conceptually difficult, whereas converting into HSL, manipulating there, then converting back out again is more intuitive in concept and invariably gives better looking results.
Wikipedia has a good introduction to HSL and the closely related HSV. And there's free code around the net to do the conversion (for example here is a javascript implementation)
What precise transformation you use is a matter of taste, but personally I'd have thought reversing the Hue and Lightness components would be certain to generate a good high contrast colour as a first approximation, but you can easily go for more subtle effects.
You can have any hue text on any hue background and ensure that it is legible. I do it all the time. There's a formula for this in Javascript on Readable Text in Colour – STW* As it says on that link, the formula is a variation on the inverse-gamma adjustment calculation, though a bit more manageable IMHO. The menus on the right-hand side of that link and its associated pages use randomly-generated colours for text and background, always legible. So yes, clearly it can be done, no problem.
An Android variation that captures the alpha as well.
(thanks @thomas-vos)
/**
* Returns a colour best suited to contrast with the input colour.
*
* @param colour
* @return
*/
@ColorInt
public static int contrastingColour(@ColorInt int colour) {
// XXX https://stackguides.com/questions/1855884/determine-font-color-based-on-background-color
// Counting the perceptive luminance - human eye favors green color...
double a = 1 - (0.299 * Color.red(colour) + 0.587 * Color.green(colour) + 0.114 * Color.blue(colour)) / 255;
int alpha = Color.alpha(colour);
int d = 0; // bright colours - black font;
if (a >= 0.5) {
d = 255; // dark colours - white font
}
return Color.argb(alpha, d, d, d);
}
I would have commented on the answer by @MichaelChirico but I don't have enough reputation. So, here's an example in R with returning the colours:
get_text_colour <- function(
background_colour,
light_text_colour = 'white',
dark_text_colour = 'black',
threshold = 0.5
) {
background_luminance <- c(
c( .299, .587, .114 ) %*% col2rgb( background_colour ) / 255
)
return(
ifelse(
background_luminance < threshold,
light_text_colour,
dark_text_colour
)
)
}
> get_text_colour( background_colour = 'blue' )
[1] "white"
> get_text_colour( background_colour = c( 'blue', 'yellow', 'pink' ) )
[1] "white" "black" "black"
> get_text_colour( background_colour = c('black', 'white', '#236FAB', 'darkred', '#01F11F') )
[1] "white" "black" "white" "white" "black"
