I am looking for an algorithm that will generate a series of colors so that the colors will be as widely distributed as possible (so they won't easily be mixed up).
I have a series of objects that have IDs that count up from 1. I would like to represent each of these with a different, aesthetically pleasing, color that won't get easily confused with its neighbors. The colors should not necessarily be random though. I would like to get the same color each time I input the same ID.
Does the number of possible elements have a reasonable low bound? One quick and easy solution is to just store an array of color values using the ID of the item. That assumes that you have a relatively low amount of colors, and you're certain that you won't go above a certain number of items, however.
If you want to generate colors rather than use a list, one trick to make them have a consistent and decent look is to generate them using HSB. Pre-define a brightness and saturation, then base the hue value off some function of the ID (this can be a variety of things depending on how many IDs you plan to have, but multiplying the ID by some amount (and modding when it exceeds 255!) is a good rough approach. With this approach the colors will all "align" in terms of saturation and brightness but they'll each have a distinct color.
I'm a bit bored at work, so I whipped together a fast solution:
class HsbColor
{
public int Hue { get; set; }
public int Saturation { get; set; }
public int Brightness { get; set; }
public Color ToRGB
{
// left as exercise to the reader...
}
}
public class Item
{
public int Id { get; set; }
private static const byte EXPECTED_MAX = 15;
private static int HUE_FACTOR = 255 / EXPECTED_MAX;
public HsbColor Color
{
get {
var color = new HsbColor() { Saturation = 175, Brightness = 175 };
color.Hue = (Id * HUE_FACTOR) % 255;
return color;
}
}
}