(i'm not sure if this has been done...)
i'll try to make it as simple as i can.

Anyway, for those of you who don't have a program that shows the Hexadecimal code for the color, i will tell you tips on getting the Hex. code for that perfect shade of blue from MSPaint, to your web page.

First off, how Hexidecimal works.

0123456789, that is the decimal digits, from the lowest in value, to the highest. But for Hex. it's different for it doesn't end at 9.

0123456789ABCDEF, that is the Hexidecimal digits, from the lowest in value, to the highest.

Think of it this way, 6 digits are added.
after you get to F, whats after? 10! then, like numbers you've learned in school, you keep increasing the first digit untill you get to the largest digit, the increas the second/third/fourth ect. in the same manner.


Now for how hex. color codes work!

000000, that is an example color hex, code(black).
every two digits controle a color of either red, green or blue. increasing a section will increase the value of that color. Here are the sections

###### so if the red area has the highest hex number(FF) using two digit(when using color hex code, you can oly use two digits for a 'section') and the rest had the lowest(00), then the color you get will be a pure red, ect.

now you know the basics of Hexidecimal, we can get into converting a color from MSPaint(only program i have) into Hexidecimal color codes for your site.

Ok, in MSPaint, if you double-click on a color in the pllete below or select from the toolbar above 'Colors>Edit Colors...' it will open a pallete editor.
First click the 'Define Custom Colors>>' button.

in there, get the color you want.

Then if you noticce the text boxes that give the color value for red green and blue, there is all the info you need.

now to convert those into Hexidecimal...
A very simple way would be to open the calculator program(on most Windows operating systems)
and select Scientific view, then make sure the 'O Dec' circle is marked then type in the proper value for red that shows up for your color. then select the 'O Hex' circle, and it will convert your entry into a two digit Hex!!!
Do the same with green and blue and enter the Hex. code you got for each into the correct 'section' on the color code.
So...

for white..

The Value in decimal was

Red: 255
Green: 255
Blue: 255

now, red: 255 into hex would be 'FF'
green: 255 into hex would be 'FF'
blue: 255 into hex would be 'FF'

so the color code would be...
#FFFFFF


TIP:
If all the 'sections' have the SAME value, you'll always get a gray! (3d3d3d or c9c9c9 are gray, there are hundreds of shades!!!)



And there you go, if you wish to coment me or ask a question, you can Send me a PM or E-mail.

I can't figure out how to reproduce a color written in a .css style sheet written like this:

color:#9ad;
or
color:#a7a;
or
color:#ad9;

how do these 3digit color codes correspond or convert into hex?

3 character codes are a short hand version. double each character to produce the full hex value.

9ad = 99aadd
a7a = aa77aa
ad9 = aadd99