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Non-dithering Colours


Using the special non-dithering range of colours on your webpage ensures that the colour will look the same in all browsers on all platforms, instead of resembling a pixellated mess.

Clock This page was last updated on 2012-08-21



Dithering Explained

If you haven’t noticed, images and webpages can look very different when viewed on different computers through different monitors. This is because there may be colours needed, which you do not have available, because your colour depth (the amount of colours your monitor can display at a time) is too low.

If you are at 256 colours (sometimes called 8-bit colour), then you will know what I’m talking about. Since it doesn’t have the millions of colours available like in higher depths, your browser will try to simulate the colour by mixing two or more colours from its usable palette together to give the impression of the desired colour.

As an example of dithering, say you wanted orange and it wasn’t part of your system palette. The browser would mix red and yellow — like this:

Square of red and yellow pixels which simulate orange Zoomed in view of the square

Windows users can check their colour depth by going to Control Panel > Display > Settings.

All systems have what’s called a system palette — the basic set of colours that the system can use at the 256-colour level. Sadly, Windows and Mac systems don’t use the same 256 colours, but there is a cross-over of 216 colours which are in both system palettes. So, when I say the following 216 colours are non-dithering or web-safe, it means they will look the exact same on any computer. That’s what makes them so useful. You can use them and be guaranteed that a user won’t get a horrible looking mess when they load your page. It’ll all be smooth colour.

Note: When you use these colours, remember HEX code syntax: you put a # in front of the numbers. Like so:

p {color: #ff6600; }


Background Colours Chart

#000000 #003300 #006600 #009900 #00CC00 #00FF00
#000033 #003333 #006633 #009933 #00CC33 #00FF33
#000066 #003366 #006666 #009966 #00CC66 #00FF66
#000099 #003399 #006699 #009999 #00CC99 #00FF99
#0000CC #0033CC #0066CC #0099CC #00CCCC #00FFCC
#0000FF #0033FF #0066FF #0099FF #00CCFF #00FFFF
#330000 #333300 #336600 #339900 #33CC00 #33FF00
#330033 #333333 #336633 #339933 #33CC33 #33FF33
#330066 #333366 #336666 #339966 #33CC66 #33FF66
#330099 #333399 #336699 #339999 #33CC99 #33FF99
#3300CC #3333CC #3366CC #3399CC #33CCCC #33FFCC
#3300FF #3333FF #3366FF #3399FF #33CCFF #33FFFF
#660000 #663300 #666600 #669900 #66CC00 #66FF00
#660033 #663333 #666633 #669933 #66CC33 #66FF33
#660066 #663366 #666666 #669966 #66CC66 #66FF66
#660099 #663399 #666699 #669999 #66CC99 #66FF99
#6600CC #6633CC #6666CC #6699CC #66CCCC #66FFCC
#6600FF #6633FF #6666FF #6699FF #66CCFF #66FFFF
#990000 #993300 #996600 #999900 #99CC00 #99FF00
#990033 #993333 #996633 #999933 #99CC33 #99FF33
#990066 #993366 #996666 #999966 #99CC66 #99FF66
#990099 #993399 #996699 #999999 #99CC99 #99FF99
#9900CC #9933CC #9966CC #9999CC #99CCCC #99FFCC
#9900FF #9933FF #9966FF #9999FF #99CCFF #99FFFF
#CC0000 #CC3300 #CC6600 #CC9900 #CCCC00 #CCFF00
#CC0033 #CC3333 #CC6633 #CC9933 #CCCC33 #CCFF33
#CC0066 #CC3366 #CC6666 #CC9966 #CCCC66 #CCFF66
#CC0099 #CC3399 #CC6699 #CC9999 #CCCC99 #CCFF99
#CC00CC #CC33CC #CC66CC #CC99CC #CCCCCC #CCFFCC
#CC00FF #CC33FF #CC66FF #CC99FF #CCCCFF #CCFFFF
#FF0000 #FF3300 #FF6600 #FF9900 #FFCC00 #FFFF00
#FF0033 #FF3333 #FF6633 #FF9933 #FFCC33 #FFFF33
#FF0066 #FF3366 #FF6666 #FF9966 #FFCC66 #FFFF66
#FF0099 #FF3399 #FF6699 #FF9999 #FFCC99 #FFFF99
#FF00CC #FF33CC #FF66CC #FF99CC #FFCCCC #FFFFCC
#FF00FF #FF33FF #FF66FF #FF99FF #FFCCFF #FFFFFF

Text Colours Chart

#000000 #000033 #000066 #000099 #0000CC #0000FF
#003300 #003333 #003366 #003399 #0033CC #0033FF
#006600 #006633 #006666 #006699 #0066CC #0066FF
#009900 #009933 #009966 #009999 #0099CC #0099FF
#00CC00 #00CC33 #00CC66 #00CC99 #00CCCC #00CCFF
#00FF00 #00FF33 #00FF66 #00FF99 #00FFCC #00FFFF
#330000 #330033 #330066 #330099 #3300CC #3300FF
#333300 #333333 #333366 #333399 #3333CC #3333FF
#336600 #336633 #336666 #336699 #3366CC #3366FF
#339900 #339933 #339966 #339999 #3399CC #3399FF
#33CC00 #33CC33 #33CC66 #33CC99 #33CCCC #33CCFF
#33FF00 #33FF33 #33FF66 #33FF99 #33FFCC #33FFFF
#660000 #660033 #660066 #660099 #6600CC #6600FF
#663300 #663333 #663366 #663399 #6633CC #6633FF
#666600 #666633 #666666 #666699 #6666CC #6666FF
#669900 #669933 #669966 #669999 #6699CC #6699FF
#66CC00 #66CC33 #66CC66 #66CC99 #66CCCC #66CCFF
#66FF00 #66FF33 #66FF66 #66FF99 #66FFCC #66FFFF
#990000 #990033 #990066 #990099 #9900CC #9900FF
#993300 #993333 #993366 #993399 #9933CC #9933FF
#996600 #996633 #996666 #996699 #9966CC #9966FF
#999900 #999933 #999966 #999999 #9999CC #9999FF
#99CC00 #99CC33 #99CC66 #99CC99 #99CCCC #99CCFF
#99FF00 #99FF33 #99FF66 #99FF99 #99FFCC #99FFFF
#CC0000 #CC0033 #CC0066 #CC0099 #CC00CC #CC00FF
#CC3300 #CC3333 #CC3366 #CC3399 #CC33CC #CC33FF
#CC6600 #CC6633 #CC6666 #CC6699 #CC66CC #CC66FF
#CC9900 #CC9933 #CC9966 #CC9999 #CC99CC #CC99FF
#CCCC00 #CCCC33 #CCCC66 #CCCC99 #CCCCCC #CCCCFF
#CCFF00 #CCFF33 #CCFF66 #CCFF99 #CCFFCC #CCFFFF
#FF0000 #FF0033 #FF0066 #FF0099 #FF00CC #FF00FF
#FF3300 #FF3333 #FF3366 #FF3399 #FF33CC #FF33FF
#FF6600 #FF6633 #FF6666 #FF6699 #FF66CC #FF66FF
#FF9900 #FF9933 #FF9966 #FF9999 #FF99CC #FF99FF
#FFCC00 #FFCC33 #FFCC66 #FFCC99 #FFCCCC #FFCCFF
#FFFF00 #FFFF33 #FFFF66 #FFFF99 #FFFFCC #FFFFFF