Convert Hex to RGBA

Question

My fiddle - http://jsbin.com/pitu/1/edit

I wanted to try an easy hex to rgba conversion. Ever browser I've used renders colors using rgb as default so when using the farbtastic color picker I'm converting the hex value to rgb by grabbing the background color the hex value generates (as rgb by default = simple conversion)

I tried replacing the ) symbol to , 1), but that didn't work so I went to just see how converting rgb to rgba would work, and I'm still having trouble.

The jquery

$('.torgb').val($('#color').css('background-color'));
$('.torgba').val().replace(/rgb/g,"rgba");

The goal

EDIT:

TinyColor Is a great color manipulation js library that does everything I want here and more. I figure you guys may want to give it a try! - https://github.com/bgrins/TinyColor

Answer 1

//If you write your own code, remember hex color shortcuts (eg., #fff, #000)

function hexToRgbA(hex){
    var c;
    if(/^#([A-Fa-f0-9]{3}){1,2}$/.test(hex)){
        c= hex.substring(1).split('');
        if(c.length== 3){
            c= [c[0], c[0], c[1], c[1], c[2], c[2]];
        }
        c= '0x'+c.join('');
        return 'rgba('+[(c>>16)&255, (c>>8)&255, c&255].join(',')+',1)';
    }
    throw new Error('Bad Hex');
}

hexToRgbA('#fbafff')

/*  returned value: (String)
rgba(251,175,255,1)
*/

Answer 2

@ElDoRado1239 has the right idea, but there's also a cleaner way:

function hexToRGB(hex, alpha) {
    var r = parseInt(hex.slice(1, 3), 16),
        g = parseInt(hex.slice(3, 5), 16),
        b = parseInt(hex.slice(5, 7), 16);

    if (alpha) {
        return "rgba(" + r + ", " + g + ", " + b + ", " + alpha + ")";
    } else {
        return "rgb(" + r + ", " + g + ", " + b + ")";
    }
}

hexToRGB('#FF0000', 0.5);

Answer 3

ES6 function for only handling 6 character hex with or without the '#':

const hex2rgba = (hex, alpha = 1) => {
  const [r, g, b] = hex.match(/\w\w/g).map(x => parseInt(x, 16));
  return `rgba(${r},${g},${b},${alpha})`;
};

Usage:

hex2rgba('#af087b', .5)   // returns: rgba(175,8,123,0.5)
hex2rgba('af087b', .5)    // returns: rgba(175,8,123,0.5)
hex2rgba('af087b')        // returns: rgba(175,8,123,1)

Answer 4

Clean TypeScript version:

hexToRGB(hex: string, alpha: string) {

  const r = parseInt(hex.slice(1, 3), 16);
  const g = parseInt(hex.slice(3, 5), 16);
  const b = parseInt(hex.slice(5, 7), 16);

  if (alpha) {
    return `rgba(${r}, ${g}, ${b}, ${alpha})`;
  } else {
    return `rgb(${r}, ${g}, ${b})`;
  }
}

Based on @AJFarkas's answer.

Answer 5

Any Hex Form Modular Approach

The main challenge is that as of 2018 there are a few forms of HEX. The 6 char traditional form, the 3 char shorten form, and a new 4 and 8 char form that includes alpha. The following function can handle any HEX form.

const isValidHex = (hex) => /^#([A-Fa-f0-9]{3,4}){1,2}$/.test(hex)

const getChunksFromString = (st, chunkSize) => st.match(new RegExp(`.{${chunkSize}}`, "g"))

const convertHexUnitTo256 = (hexStr) => parseInt(hexStr.repeat(2 / hexStr.length), 16)

const getAlphafloat = (a, alpha) => {
    if (typeof a !== "undefined") {return a / 255}
    if ((typeof alpha != "number") || alpha <0 || alpha >1){
      return 1
    }
    return alpha
}

export const hexToRGBA = (hex, alpha) => {
    if (!isValidHex(hex)) {throw new Error("Invalid HEX")}
    const chunkSize = Math.floor((hex.length - 1) / 3)
    const hexArr = getChunksFromString(hex.slice(1), chunkSize)
    const [r, g, b, a] = hexArr.map(convertHexUnitTo256)
    return `rgba(${r}, ${g}, ${b}, ${getAlphafloat(a, alpha)})`
}

Alpha could be provided to the function in the following ways:

1. As part of a 4, or 8 form HEX .
2. As a second parameter between 0-1,

OutPut

    const c1 = "#f80"
    const c2 = "#f808"
    const c3 = "#0088ff"
    const c4 = "#0088ff88"
    const c5 = "#98736"

    console.log(hexToRGBA(c1))   //  rgba(255, 136, 0, 1)
    console.log(hexToRGBA(c2))   //  rgba(255, 136, 0, 0.53125)
    console.log(hexToRGBA(c3))   //  rgba(0, 136, 255, 1)
    console.log(hexToRGBA(c4))   //  rgba(0, 136, 255, 0.53125)
    console.log(hexToRGBA(c5))   //  Uncaught Error: Invalid HEX

    console.log(hexToRGBA(c1, 0.5))   //  rgba(255, 136, 0, 0.5)
    console.log(hexToRGBA(c3, 0.5))   //  rgba(0, 136, 255, 0.5)

Answer 6

Here is a function that returns rgb or rgba if you provide an alpha. The function also converts short hex color codes too.

function:

function hexToRgb(hex, alpha) {
   hex   = hex.replace('#', '');
   var r = parseInt(hex.length == 3 ? hex.slice(0, 1).repeat(2) : hex.slice(0, 2), 16);
   var g = parseInt(hex.length == 3 ? hex.slice(1, 2).repeat(2) : hex.slice(2, 4), 16);
   var b = parseInt(hex.length == 3 ? hex.slice(2, 3).repeat(2) : hex.slice(4, 6), 16);
   if ( alpha ) {
      return 'rgba(' + r + ', ' + g + ', ' + b + ', ' + alpha + ')';
   }
   else {
      return 'rgb(' + r + ', ' + g + ', ' + b + ')';
   }
}

examples:

hexToRgb('FF0000');// rgb(255, 0, 0)
hexToRgb('#FF0000');// rgb(255, 0, 0)
hexToRgb('#FF0000', 1);// rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)
hexToRgb('F00');// rgb(255, 0, 0)
hexToRgb('#F00');// rgb(255, 0, 0)
hexToRgb('#F00', 1);// rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)

Answer 7

Pure JS solution if it helps:

function hexToRGB(hex,alphaYes){
 var h = "0123456789ABCDEF";
 var r = h.indexOf(hex[1])*16+h.indexOf(hex[2]);
 var g = h.indexOf(hex[3])*16+h.indexOf(hex[4]);
 var b = h.indexOf(hex[5])*16+h.indexOf(hex[6]);
 if(alphaYes) return "rgba("+r+", "+g+", "+b+", 1)";
 else return "rgb("+r+", "+g+", "+b+")";
}

"alphaYes" is "true" or "false" depending upon whether you want the alpha or not.

Answer 8

ES6 modern, RegEx free, solution with error checking and constant arrow function, that returns null for errors. If alpha is not given then the default value of one is used:

const hexToRGB = (hex, alpha = 1) => {
    let parseString = hex;
    if (hex.startsWith('#')) {parseString = hex.slice(1, 7);}
    if (parseString.length !== 6) {return null;}
    const r = parseInt(parseString.slice(0, 2), 16);
    const g = parseInt(parseString.slice(2, 4), 16);
    const b = parseInt(parseString.slice(4, 6), 16);
    if (isNaN(r) || isNaN(g) || isNaN(b)) {return null;}
    return `rgba(${r}, ${g}, ${b}, ${alpha})`;
};

Note: It returns null for errors. You may replace {return null;} with a throw statement: {throw "Not a valid hex color!";}, but then you should call it from within try-catch:

hexToRGB("#3454r5") => null
hexToRGB("#345465") => rgba(52, 84, 101, 1)
hexToRGB("#345465", 0.5) => rgba(52, 84, 101, 0.5)

Answer 9

I liked the @AJFarkas answer and append the support for shortcut hex (#fff) to it

function hexToRGB(hex, alpha) {
    if (!hex || [4, 7].indexOf(hex.length) === -1) {
        return; // throw new Error('Bad Hex');
    }

    hex = hex.substr(1);
    // if shortcuts (#F00) -> set to normal (#FF0000)
    if (hex.length === 3) { 
        hex = hex.split('').map(function(el){ 
              return el + el + '';
            }).join('');
    }

    var r = parseInt(hex.slice(0, 2), 16),
        g = parseInt(hex.slice(2, 4), 16),
        b = parseInt(hex.slice(4, 6), 16);

    if (alpha !== undefined) {
        return "rgba(" + r + ", " + g + ", " + b + ", " + alpha + ")";
    } else {
        return "rgb(" + r + ", " + g + ", " + b + ")";
    }
}

document.write(hexToRGB('#FF0000', 0.5));
document.write('<br>');
document.write(hexToRGB('#F00', 0.4));

Answer 10

Here's an ES2015+ version that's a little more defensive and handles the shorthand 3-digit syntax.

/*
 * Takes a 3 or 6-digit hex color code, and an optional 0-255 numeric alpha value
 */
function hexToRGB(hex, alpha) {
  if (typeof hex !== 'string' || hex[0] !== '#') return null; // or return 'transparent'

  const stringValues = (hex.length === 4)
        ? [hex.slice(1, 2), hex.slice(2, 3), hex.slice(3, 4)].map(n => `${n}${n}`)
        : [hex.slice(1, 3), hex.slice(3, 5), hex.slice(5, 7)];
  const intValues = stringValues.map(n => parseInt(n, 16));

  return (typeof alpha === 'number')
    ? `rgba(${intValues.join(', ')}, ${alpha})`
    : `rgb(${intValues.join(', ')})`;
}

Answer 11

Here's a quick function that supports 3, 4, 6 and 8 character color codes:

function hexToRGBA(hex) {
    // remove invalid characters
    hex = hex.replace(/[^0-9a-fA-F]/g, '');

    if (hex.length < 5) { 
        // 3, 4 characters double-up
        hex = hex.split('').map(s => s + s).join('');
    }

    // parse pairs of two
    let rgba = hex.match(/.{1,2}/g).map(s => parseInt(s, 16));

    // alpha code between 0 & 1 / default 1
    rgba[3] = rgba.length > 3 ? parseFloat(rgba[3] / 255).toFixed(2): 1;

    return 'rgba(' + rgba.join(', ') + ')';
}

Here's what it does. It removes any non-hexadecimal characters. If the HEX is shorter than 5 (3 or 4) characters, it doubles each character. It then splits the HEX into pairs of two characters and parses each pair to an integer. If there is an alpha HEX, it's parsed to a float from 0 to 1, otherwise it's defaulted to 1. The RGBA string is then formed by joining the array and returned.

Answer 12

And another one based around bit shifting.

// hex can be a string in the format of "fc9a04", "0xfc9a04" or "#fc90a4" (uppercase digits are allowed) or the equivalent number
// alpha should be 0-1
const hex2rgb = (hex, alpha) => {
  const c = typeof(hex) === 'string' ? parseInt(hex.replace('#', ''), 16)  : hex;
  return `rgb(${c >> 16}, ${(c & 0xff00) >> 8}, ${c & 0xff}, ${alpha})`;
};

Answer 13

Try

// hex - str e.g. "#abcdef"; a - alpha range 0-1; result e.g. "rgba(1,1,1,0)"
let hex2rgba= (hex,a)=> `rgb(${hex.substr(1).match(/../g).map(x=>+`0x${x}`)},${a})`

/// hex - str e.g. "#abcdef"; a - alpha range 0-1; result e.g. "rgba(1,1,1,0)"
let hex2rgba= (hex,a)=> `rgb(${hex.substr(1).match(/../g).map(x=>+`0x${x}`)},${a})`;

function convert() {
  console.log(hex2rgba(inp.value,1));
}

<input id="inp" value="#abcdef" >
<button onclick="convert()">convert</button>

Answer 14

function hexToRGB(hex, alpha) {
    var r = parseInt(hex.slice(1, 3), 16),
        g = parseInt(hex.slice(3, 5), 16),
        b = parseInt(hex.slice(5, 7), 16);

    if (alpha) {
        return "rgba(" + r + ", " + g + ", " + b + ", " + alpha + ")";
    } else {
        return "rgb(" + r + ", " + g + ", " + b + ")";
    }
}

hexToRGB('#FF0000', 0.5);

Answer 15

Convert HEX with alpha (ahex) in to rgba.

function ahex_to_rba(ahex) {
    //clean #
    ahex = ahex.substring(1, ahex.length);
    ahex = ahex.split('');

    var r = ahex[0] + ahex[0],
        g = ahex[1] + ahex[1],
        b = ahex[2] + ahex[2],
        a = ahex[3] + ahex[3];

    if (ahex.length >= 6) {
        r = ahex[0] + ahex[1];
        g = ahex[2] + ahex[3];
        b = ahex[4] + ahex[5];
        a = ahex[6] + (ahex[7] ? ahex[7] : ahex[6]);
    }

    var int_r = parseInt(r, 16),
        int_g = parseInt(g, 16),
        int_b = parseInt(b, 16),
        int_a = parseInt(a, 16);


    int_a = int_a / 255;

    if (int_a < 1 && int_a > 0) int_a = int_a.toFixed(2);

    if (int_a || int_a === 0)
        return 'rgba('+int_r+', '+int_g+', '+int_b+', '+int_a+')';
    return 'rgb('+int_r+', '+int_g+', '+int_b+')';
}

Try it yourself with snippet:

function ahex_to_rba(ahex) {
    //clean #
    ahex = ahex.substring(1, ahex.length);
    ahex = ahex.split('');

    var r = ahex[0] + ahex[0],
        g = ahex[1] + ahex[1],
        b = ahex[2] + ahex[2],
        a = ahex[3] + ahex[3];

    if (ahex.length >= 6) {
        r = ahex[0] + ahex[1];
        g = ahex[2] + ahex[3];
        b = ahex[4] + ahex[5];
        a = ahex[6] + (ahex[7] ? ahex[7] : ahex[6]);
    }

    var int_r = parseInt(r, 16),
        int_g = parseInt(g, 16),
        int_b = parseInt(b, 16),
        int_a = parseInt(a, 16);


    int_a = int_a / 255;

    if (int_a < 1 && int_a > 0) int_a = int_a.toFixed(2);

    if (int_a || int_a === 0)
        return 'rgba('+int_r+', '+int_g+', '+int_b+', '+int_a+')';
    return 'rgb('+int_r+', '+int_g+', '+int_b+')';
}


$(function() {
  $('#go').click(function() {
    $('p b').text(ahex_to_rba($('#hex').val()));
  })
});

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<input id="hex" type="text" value="#ffaaffaa">
<input id="go" type="button" value="Go">

<p>Result: <b></b></p>

Original Author

Answer 16

Adding to @ElDoRado1239

For those that want to pass alpha value (typescript snippet):

static hexToRGB(hex: string, alpha: number): string {
    var h = "0123456789ABCDEF";
    var r = h.indexOf(hex[1]) * 16 + h.indexOf(hex[2]);
    var g = h.indexOf(hex[3]) * 16 + h.indexOf(hex[4]);
    var b = h.indexOf(hex[5]) * 16 + h.indexOf(hex[6]);
    if (alpha) {
      return `rgba(${r}, ${g}, ${b}, ${alpha})`
    }

    return `rgba(${r}, ${g}, ${b})`;
  }

Answer 17

No need to re-implement the wheel:

• RGB to HEX: https://github.com/sindresorhus/rgb-hex
• HEX to RGB: https://github.com/sindresorhus/hex-rgb

Answer 18

I'm just gonna put this right here:

(str, alpha) => {


    if(!/^#([A-Fa-f0-9]{3}){1,2}$/.test(str))
      throw new Error('Bad hex')


    let c = str.substring(1).split('')
    if(c.length === 3) c = [c[0], c[0], c[1], c[1], c[2], c[2]];
    c = '0x'+c.join('');
    return `rgba(${(c>>16)&255}, ${(c>>8)&255}, ${c&255}, ${alpha})`;

};

Answer 19

Try This

<div class="torgb" onclick="rgba();" style="background-color:#000; width:20px; height:20px;"></div>
<script>
function rgba(){
$('.torgb').attr('background-color','rgba(0,0,0,1)');
$('.torgb').attr('onclick','hex();');
}
function hex(){
$('.torgb').attr('background-color','#000');
$('.torgb').attr('onclick','rgba();');
}
</script>