ColorLab — Color Tool
Convert colors, generate palettes, check WCAG contrast ratios, and find closest CSS color names. Uses printf and awk for calculations, with ANSI 24-bit color swatches in terminal output.
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
hex-to-rgb <hex> |
Convert hex color to RGB values |
rgb-to-hex <r> <g> <b> |
Convert RGB values (0-255) to hex |
contrast <hex1> <hex2> |
Calculate WCAG 2.0 contrast ratio with AA/AAA pass/fail ratings |
palette <hex> [count] |
Generate lighter and darker variants of a color (default: 5 each direction) |
random [count] |
Generate random colors with hex and RGB values (default: 1) |
name <hex> |
Find the closest named CSS color (from ~50 common colors) |
Examples
# Convert hex to RGB
colorlab hex-to-rgb "#FF5733" # → rgb(255, 87, 51)
# Convert RGB to hex
colorlab rgb-to-hex 255 87 51 # → #FF5733
# Check contrast for accessibility
colorlab contrast "#FFFFFF" "#000000"
# → 21.00:1, WCAG AA/AAA all pass
# Generate a palette
colorlab palette "#3498db" 3
# → Shows 3 darker + base + 3 lighter variants with color swatches
# Random colors
colorlab random 5
# Find closest CSS color name
colorlab name "#e74c3c" # → Crimson
Notes
- Hex colors accept
#prefix (optional) and 3-digit shorthand (#F00→#FF0000) - WCAG contrast checks report AA/AAA compliance for normal and large text
- Palette output includes ANSI 24-bit color swatches (requires a modern terminal)
- Color naming uses Euclidean distance in RGB space against ~50 common CSS color names