Web Safe Colors
- Started
- Last post
- 23 Responses
- IRNlun6
does anybody even use these anymore?
have to use them to make GIF's, but i find i have a wider range of colors using flash or CSS.
what kind of color palette are you all selecting from? does anyone know of updated web-safe colors or something along those lines?
thoughts anyone?
- piperboytoy0
I haven't used websafe colors since 99. We used to be really strict with only using websafe pallette, but most people's monitors can handle millions of colors so don't really care anymore.
- Bio0
i use them only when i am sad.
- MR_T0
Websafe colours are used by account execs and also clients, who know sweet fuck all about anything.
A LITTLE information can be a very dangerous thing.
- IRNlun60
i figured that. i rarely use them any more but find it convenient(to a certain extent) to select from a limited palette rather than clicking through hundreds of hex colors. does anyone have any technics to simplify this process?
- jpowell0
i use that way of selection also. it helps find colors that are about the same level. but, sometimes 256 isn't enough.
- IRNlun60
i'm not trying to bite anyones color palette's.
its not like we have pantone chips to choose colors to use for a web-site.
I can't find anything on how people go about this.
- jandiro0
Newstoday™ uses them
- CX0
a lot of websafe colors look really bright and cheesy.
- Nirvous0
IRNlun6, All the pantone colors are in Photoshop
- imaletin0
I only use web safe colors in web design, better safe than sorry.
- kpl0
web safe is still useful for people who are running in 16-bit color mode, since exact colors really don't show up on those displays well. ie, check out lennykravitz.com in 16 and 24 bit mode
- IRNlun60
yeah... thanks Nirvous. Pantone's are a bad example for what i'm asking.
i do agree with CX. web safe colors are bright and cheesy. so is it safe to assume most website designers just select from the hex colors palette?
has web design evoloved from web safe colors to hex colors?
sorry if this question seems dated.
- spoonernyc0
a good resource here
all about the new color safe palette for PCvsMac in Thousands of colors
- noneck0
The websafe color pallete only applied to 256 color displays. Anything above that starts to butcher the pallete somewhat.
An article published on webmokey about three and a half years ago explains (and shows) that there are really ony 22 websafe colours right now (http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmo...
Here's the article: http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmon…
When working, I'll use any color, really. It pisses me off that I can't seem to redefine the default color pallette in flash (where I do most of my work).
Pantones are always cool, but I also like the Toyo pallete for some variety.
Ditch the 216 color pallette.
- MobyGrape0
they are the new retro thing, after crests and wood grain
- bob0
I continue to use the Web Spectrum.
I fine that for one, the colors suit minimalist site design very well. Two, many home computers monitors are still seen in a 800 x 600 resolution. (I can not utter the words that come over me when I see a site I designed in not web safe colors, on one of those monitors)
Sure with the growing prevalence of LCDs one could design using what ever colors they want, just as most flash sites are not viewable by the blind or by dial-up, but for a corporate site, I find no reason to exclude those minorities.
Finally, using a select few colors keeps things simple and prevents slight errors in matching colors.
Just as the newspaper is black and white and read all over....
Websites need not go to any extremes with color to present relevant content to the viewer.
- noneck0
The problems with the web-safe pallette have nothing to do with the reolution (800x600) or the type of display (LCD vs CRT).
Rather, it has to do with teh fact that if your *video card* is set to display 16 or 24 bit color, it can't render most of the web safe colors accurately.
Lynda Weinman (often credited with INVENTING the web-safe pallette) acknowledges that it's time has passed - even as a limited color set to choose from (right here).
"The browser-safe palette was developed by programmers with no design sense, I assure you. That's because a designer would have never picked these colors. Mostly, the palette contains far less light and dark colors than I wish it did, and is heavy on highly saturated colors and low on muted, tinted or toned colors." - Lynda Weinman
- noneck0
Link didn't post.
- IRNlun60
i think this issue is just as important as browser types, screen sizes, frames vs iframes etc.... just don't read about it much. thanks all for the replies.
- CyBrainX0
Designing with web safe colors is like designing for 640x480. same era, same age monitors.
Don't do it. It's a useless limitation on your creativity.
I can't imagine a case where your target audience would be about 3% of the general population.