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C# Color Examples
This C# article explores the Color type. It provides many Color examples.Color is a struct. This type provides a standard way to specify and mutate colors in the C# language.
By adding a reference to the System.Drawing assembly, you can access this type and avoid writing your own color routines.
Example. First, let's examine a program that uses a named color property. It then accesses several instance properties on the variable and also calls methods. You can acquire many known colors by using the named properties on the Color type.
Note: For a more complete list, please scroll down and view the names themselves.
Colors can be represented as ARGB values, which store the alpha transparency, as well as the red, green and blue values. These values are stored as bytes which gives them a range of 0 to 255 inclusive.
C# program that demonstrates Color type
using System;
using System.Drawing;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Get the AliceBlue color.
Color color = Color.AliceBlue;
// Write some details about the color.
Console.WriteLine(color);
Console.WriteLine(color.ToArgb());
Console.WriteLine(color.A);
Console.WriteLine(color.R);
Console.WriteLine(color.G);
Console.WriteLine(color.B);
Console.WriteLine(color.GetBrightness());
Console.WriteLine(color.GetHue());
Console.WriteLine(color.GetSaturation());
}
}
Output
Color [AliceBlue]
-984833
255
240
248
255
0.9705882
208
1
Won't compile? If you try to execute this program and it won't compile, please try adding the System.Drawing assembly through the interface in Visual Studio. Some project types, such as Windows Forms, include this assembly automatically.
Known colors. Occasionally, you may have a known color and want to acquire a Color struct from it for usage elsewhere. For example, you can query the system for the color of the menu text, using the KnownColor.MenuText enum.
And: Then convert it into a regular color. This lets you examine the components of the color programmatically.
C# program that uses known colors
using System;
using System.Drawing;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// You can see what the menu text color is.
Color color = Color.FromKnownColor(KnownColor.MenuText);
// All values are zero so it is black.
Console.WriteLine(color.R);
Console.WriteLine(color.G);
Console.WriteLine(color.B);
}
}
Output
0
0
0
Convert. It is possible to represent colors as an integer that represents the byte values of the ARGB values. Each of those values is one byte. The four bytes together constitute a single 32-bit integer.
You can persist the ARGB integer to text files or databases to save storage space. It also will occupy less memory in your program as it executes. Please notice how the ToArgb() and FromArgb() methods are used to go back and forth.
C# program that uses ARGB values
using System.Drawing;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Get ARGB of black.
int argb = Color.Black.ToArgb();
// Get the color black by using the argb integer.
Color color = Color.FromArgb(argb);
}
}
FromName. In some cases, you may have to convert from a string to a color type. For example, if you accept user input and the user types the word "white", you can convert this into a real color and use it with the Color.FromName method.
Note: This won't work for color names that are not recognized in the list of properties.
C# program that uses FromName and string
using System;
using System.Drawing;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Create the color from a string.
Color white = Color.FromName("white");
// Color will have appropriate R G B values.
Console.WriteLine(white.R);
Console.WriteLine(white.G);
Console.WriteLine(white.B);
}
}
Output
255
255
255
Empty colors. The Color type is a struct type, and so cannot be set to null. Instead of using null, please use the Color.Empty value. Then, whenever you want to see if the color is still empty, acquire the IsEmpty instance property on the variable.
Here: This example shows one case where the color is empty, and one case where the color is not empty.
C# program that uses empty colors
using System;
using System.Drawing;
class Program
{
static void Main()
{
// Color is a struct so it cannot be null.
// ... Use Color.Empty instead.
Color color = Color.Empty;
Console.WriteLine(color.IsEmpty);
color = Color.Black;
Console.WriteLine(color.IsEmpty);
}
}
Output
True
False
Windows Forms. A common place to use the Color type is in the Windows Forms framework. The WPF framework also uses Color instances. Forms require the Color type for when you want to set their backgrounds and foregrounds.
In this example, we use the Color.FromName method to convert the string value into an actual color. We then set the form's background to that color. This results in a thoroughly green window.
C# program that uses BackColor property
using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace WindowsFormsApplication16
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// You can assign colors to the BackColor property in Windows Forms.
this.BackColor = Color.FromName("green");
}
}
}
Named colors. There are many different known and named colors in the .NET Framework. These are accessible through static properties on the Color type. Please see the first example to see how to get the color values.
Also: This site shows the visual appearance of these colors in another article.
Named color list Transparent AliceBlue AntiqueWhite Aqua Aquamarine Azure Beige Bisque Black BlanchedAlmond Blue BlueViolet Brown BurlyWood CadetBlue Chartreuse Chocolate Coral CornflowerBlue Cornsilk Crimson Cyan DarkBlue DarkCyan DarkGoldenrod DarkGray DarkGreen DarkKhaki DarkMagenta DarkOliveGreen DarkOrange DarkOrchid DarkRed DarkSalmon DarkSeaGreen DarkSlateBlue DarkSlateGray DarkTurquoise DarkViolet DeepPink DeepSkyBlue DimGray DodgerBlue Firebrick FloralWhite ForestGreen Fuchsia Gainsboro GhostWhite Gold Goldenrod Gray Green GreenYellow Honeydew HotPink IndianRed Indigo Ivory Khaki Lavender LavenderBlush LawnGreen LemonChiffon LightBlue LightCoral LightCyan LightGoldenrodYellow LightGreen LightGray LightPink LightSalmon LightSeaGreen LightSkyBlue LightSlateGray LightSteelBlue LightYellow Lime LimeGreen Linen Magenta Maroon MediumAquamarine MediumBlue MediumOrchid MediumPurple MediumSeaGreen MediumSlateBlue MediumSpringGreen MediumTurquoise MediumVioletRed MidnightBlue MintCream MistyRose Moccasin NavajoWhite Navy OldLace Olive OliveDrab Orange OrangeRed Orchid PaleGoldenrod PaleGreen PaleTurquoise PaleVioletRed PapayaWhip PeachPuff Peru Pink Plum PowderBlue Purple Red RosyBrown RoyalBlue SaddleBrown Salmon SandyBrown SeaGreen SeaShell Sienna Silver SkyBlue SlateBlue SlateGray Snow SpringGreen SteelBlue Tan Teal Thistle Tomato Turquoise Violet Wheat White WhiteSmoke Yellow YellowGreen
Summary. By providing a unified interface for acquiring and mutating color values, the Color type fills a useful niche in the .NET Framework. It is found in the System.Drawing namespace and assembly.
So: You can access known colors, convert colors to integers, parse colors, and generally make the world a brighter place with this type.