javascriptcolorshex

Programmatically Lighten or Darken a hex color (or rgb, and blend colors)

Here is a function I was working on to programmatically lighten or darken a hex color by a specific amount. Just pass in a string like "3F6D2A" for the color (col) and a base10 integer (amt) for the amount to lighten or darken. To darken, pass in a negative number (i.e. -20).

The reason for me to do this was because of all the solutions I found, thus far, they seemed to over-complicate the issue. And I had a feeling it could be done with just a couple lines of code. Please let me know if you find any problems, or have any adjustments to make that would speed it up.

function LightenDarkenColor(col, amt) {
  col = parseInt(col, 16);
  return (((col & 0x0000FF) + amt) | ((((col >> 8) & 0x00FF) + amt) << 8) | (((col >> 16) + amt) << 16)).toString(16);
}


// TEST
console.log( LightenDarkenColor("3F6D2A",40) );

For Development use here is an easier to read version:

function LightenDarkenColor(col, amt) {
  var num = parseInt(col, 16);
  var r = (num >> 16) + amt;
  var b = ((num >> 8) & 0x00FF) + amt;
  var g = (num & 0x0000FF) + amt;
  var newColor = g | (b << 8) | (r << 16);
  return newColor.toString(16);
}


// TEST
console.log(LightenDarkenColor("3F6D2A", -40));

And finally a version to handle colors that may (or may not) have the "#" in the beginning. Plus adjusting for improper color values:

function LightenDarkenColor(col,amt) {
    var usePound = false;
    if ( col[0] == "#" ) {
        col = col.slice(1);
        usePound = true;
    }

    var num = parseInt(col,16);

    var r = (num >> 16) + amt;

    if ( r > 255 ) r = 255;
    else if  (r < 0) r = 0;

    var b = ((num >> 8) & 0x00FF) + amt;

    if ( b > 255 ) b = 255;
    else if  (b < 0) b = 0;
    
    var g = (num & 0x0000FF) + amt;

    if ( g > 255 ) g = 255;
    else if  ( g < 0 ) g = 0;

    return (usePound?"#":"") + (g | (b << 8) | (r << 16)).toString(16);
}

OK, so now it's not just a couple of lines, but it seems far simpler and if you're not using the "#" and don't need to check for colors out of range, it is only a couple of lines.

If not using the "#", you can just add it in code like:

var myColor = "3F6D2A";
myColor = LightenDarkenColor(myColor,10);
thePlaceTheColorIsUsed = ("#" + myColor);

I guess my main question is, am I correct here? Does this not encompass most (normal) situations? And if so, what is the fastest and smallest way to do this? I want to use in animations and in a small environment, so speed is the first most important factor here, size second, accuracy third, readability? huh? not on the list of requirements (sorry, I know half of you are tearing out your eyes right now!).

Solution

  • Well, this answer has become its own beast. Many new versions, it was getting stupid long. Many thanks to all of the great many contributors to this answer. But, in order to keep it simple for the masses. I archived all the versions/history of this answer's evolution to my github. And started it over clean on StackOverflow here with the newest version. A special thanks goes out to Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans for this version. He gave me the new math.

    This function (pSBC) will take a HEX or RGB web color. pSBC can shade it darker or lighter, or blend it with a second color, and can also pass it right thru but convert from Hex to RGB (Hex2RGB) or RGB to Hex (RGB2Hex). All without you even knowing what color format you are using.

    This runs really fast, probably the fastest, especially considering its many features. It was a long time in the making. See the whole story on my github. If you want the absolutely smallest and fastest possible way to shade or blend, see the Micro Functions below and use one of the 2-liner speed demons. They are great for intense animations, but this version here is fast enough for most animations.

    This function uses Log Blending or Linear Blending. However, it does NOT convert to HSL to properly lighten or darken a color. Therefore, results from this function might differ from those much larger and much slower functions that use HSL (like TinyColor? which is actually quite large, in comparison).

    jsFiddle with pSBC

    github > pSBC Wiki

    Features:

    Code:

    // Version 4.0
const pSBC=(p,c0,c1,l)=>{
    let r,g,b,P,f,t,h,i=parseInt,m=Math.round,a=typeof(c1)=="string";
    if(typeof(p)!="number"||p<-1||p>1||typeof(c0)!="string"||(c0[0]!='r'&&c0[0]!='#')||(c1&&!a))return null;
    if(!this.pSBCr)this.pSBCr=(d)=>{
        let n=d.length,x={};
        if(n>9){
            [r,g,b,a]=d=d.split(","),n=d.length;
            if(n<3||n>4)return null;
            x.r=i(r[3]=="a"?r.slice(5):r.slice(4)),x.g=i(g),x.b=i(b),x.a=a?parseFloat(a):-1
        }else{
            if(n==8||n==6||n<4)return null;
            if(n<6)d="#"+d[1]+d[1]+d[2]+d[2]+d[3]+d[3]+(n>4?d[4]+d[4]:"");
            d=i(d.slice(1),16);
            if(n==9||n==5)x.r=d>>24&255,x.g=d>>16&255,x.b=d>>8&255,x.a=m((d&255)/0.255)/1000;
            else x.r=d>>16,x.g=d>>8&255,x.b=d&255,x.a=-1
        }return x};
    h=c0.length>9,h=a?c1.length>9?true:c1=="c"?!h:false:h,f=this.pSBCr(c0),P=p<0,t=c1&&c1!="c"?this.pSBCr(c1):P?{r:0,g:0,b:0,a:-1}:{r:255,g:255,b:255,a:-1},p=P?p*-1:p,P=1-p;
    if(!f||!t)return null;
    if(l)r=m(P*f.r+p*t.r),g=m(P*f.g+p*t.g),b=m(P*f.b+p*t.b);
    else r=m((P*f.r**2+p*t.r**2)**0.5),g=m((P*f.g**2+p*t.g**2)**0.5),b=m((P*f.b**2+p*t.b**2)**0.5);
    a=f.a,t=t.a,f=a>=0||t>=0,a=f?a<0?t:t<0?a:a*P+t*p:0;
    if(h)return"rgb"+(f?"a(":"(")+r+","+g+","+b+(f?","+m(a*1000)/1000:"")+")";
    else return"#"+(4294967296+r*16777216+g*65536+b*256+(f?m(a*255):0)).toString(16).slice(1,f?undefined:-2)
}

    Usage:

    // Setup:

let color1 = "rgb(20,60,200)";
let color2 = "rgba(20,60,200,0.67423)";
let color3 = "#67DAF0";
let color4 = "#5567DAF0";
let color5 = "#F3A";
let color6 = "#F3A9";
let color7 = "rgb(200,60,20)";
let color8 = "rgba(200,60,20,0.98631)";

// Tests:

/*** Log Blending ***/
// Shade (Lighten or Darken)
pSBC ( 0.42, color1 ); // rgb(20,60,200) + [42% Lighter] => rgb(166,171,225)
pSBC ( -0.4, color5 ); // #F3A + [40% Darker] => #c62884
pSBC ( 0.42, color8 ); // rgba(200,60,20,0.98631) + [42% Lighter] => rgba(225,171,166,0.98631)

// Shade with Conversion (use "c" as your "to" color)
pSBC ( 0.42, color2, "c" ); // rgba(20,60,200,0.67423) + [42% Lighter] + [Convert] => #a6abe1ac

// RGB2Hex & Hex2RGB Conversion Only (set percentage to zero)
pSBC ( 0, color6, "c" ); // #F3A9 + [Convert] => rgba(255,51,170,0.6)

// Blending
pSBC ( -0.5, color2, color8 ); // rgba(20,60,200,0.67423) + rgba(200,60,20,0.98631) + [50% Blend] => rgba(142,60,142,0.83)
pSBC ( 0.7, color2, color7 ); // rgba(20,60,200,0.67423) + rgb(200,60,20) + [70% Blend] => rgba(168,60,111,0.67423)
pSBC ( 0.25, color3, color7 ); // #67DAF0 + rgb(200,60,20) + [25% Blend] => rgb(134,191,208)
pSBC ( 0.75, color7, color3 ); // rgb(200,60,20) + #67DAF0 + [75% Blend] => #86bfd0

/*** Linear Blending ***/
// Shade (Lighten or Darken)
pSBC ( 0.42, color1, false, true ); // rgb(20,60,200) + [42% Lighter] => rgb(119,142,223)
pSBC ( -0.4, color5, false, true ); // #F3A + [40% Darker] => #991f66
pSBC ( 0.42, color8, false, true ); // rgba(200,60,20,0.98631) + [42% Lighter] => rgba(223,142,119,0.98631)

// Shade with Conversion (use "c" as your "to" color)
pSBC ( 0.42, color2, "c", true ); // rgba(20,60,200,0.67423) + [42% Lighter] + [Convert] => #778edfac

// RGB2Hex & Hex2RGB Conversion Only (set percentage to zero)
pSBC ( 0, color6, "c", true ); // #F3A9 + [Convert] => rgba(255,51,170,0.6)

// Blending
pSBC ( -0.5, color2, color8, true ); // rgba(20,60,200,0.67423) + rgba(200,60,20,0.98631) + [50% Blend] => rgba(110,60,110,0.83)
pSBC ( 0.7, color2, color7, true ); // rgba(20,60,200,0.67423) + rgb(200,60,20) + [70% Blend] => rgba(146,60,74,0.67423)
pSBC ( 0.25, color3, color7, true ); // #67DAF0 + rgb(200,60,20) + [25% Blend] => rgb(127,179,185)
pSBC ( 0.75, color7, color3, true ); // rgb(200,60,20) + #67DAF0 + [75% Blend] => #7fb3b9

/*** Other Stuff ***/
// Error Checking
pSBC ( 0.42, "#FFBAA" ); // #FFBAA + [42% Lighter] => null  (Invalid Input Color)
pSBC ( 42, color1, color5 ); // rgb(20,60,200) + #F3A + [4200% Blend] => null  (Invalid Percentage Range)
pSBC ( 0.42, {} ); // [object Object] + [42% Lighter] => null  (Strings Only for Color)
pSBC ( "42", color1 ); // rgb(20,60,200) + ["42"] => null  (Numbers Only for Percentage)
pSBC ( 0.42, "salt" ); // salt + [42% Lighter] => null  (A Little Salt is No Good...)

// Error Check Fails (Some Errors are not Caught)
pSBC ( 0.42, "#salt" ); // #salt + [42% Lighter] => #a5a5a500  (...and a Pound of Salt is Jibberish)

// Ripping
pSBCr ( color4 ); // #5567DAF0 + [Rip] => [object Object] => {'r':85,'g':103,'b':218,'a':0.941}

    The picture below will help show the difference in the two blending methods:

    Micro Functions

    If you really want speed and size, you will have to use RGB not HEX. RGB is more straightforward and simple, HEX writes too slow and comes in too many flavors for a simple two-liner (IE. it could be a 3, 4, 6, or 8 digit HEX code). You will also need to sacrifice some features, no error checking, no HEX2RGB nor RGB2HEX. As well, you will need to choose a specific function (based on its function name below) for the color blending math, and if you want shading or blending. These functions do support alpha channels. And when both input colors have alphas it will Linear Blend them. If only one of the two colors has an alpha, it will pass it straight thru to the resulting color. Below are two liner functions that are incredibly fast and small:

    const RGB_Linear_Blend=(p,c0,c1)=>{
    var i=parseInt,r=Math.round,P=1-p,[a,b,c,d]=c0.split(","),[e,f,g,h]=c1.split(","),x=d||h,j=x?","+(!d?h:!h?d:r((parseFloat(d)*P+parseFloat(h)*p)*1000)/1000+")"):")";
    return"rgb"+(x?"a(":"(")+r(i(a[3]=="a"?a.slice(5):a.slice(4))*P+i(e[3]=="a"?e.slice(5):e.slice(4))*p)+","+r(i(b)*P+i(f)*p)+","+r(i(c)*P+i(g)*p)+j;
}

const RGB_Linear_Shade=(p,c)=>{
    var i=parseInt,r=Math.round,[a,b,c,d]=c.split(","),P=p<0,t=P?0:255*p,P=P?1+p:1-p;
    return"rgb"+(d?"a(":"(")+r(i(a[3]=="a"?a.slice(5):a.slice(4))*P+t)+","+r(i(b)*P+t)+","+r(i(c)*P+t)+(d?","+d:")");
}

const RGB_Log_Blend=(p,c0,c1)=>{
    var i=parseInt,r=Math.round,P=1-p,[a,b,c,d]=c0.split(","),[e,f,g,h]=c1.split(","),x=d||h,j=x?","+(!d?h:!h?d:r((parseFloat(d)*P+parseFloat(h)*p)*1000)/1000+")"):")";
    return"rgb"+(x?"a(":"(")+r((P*i(a[3]=="a"?a.slice(5):a.slice(4))**2+p*i(e[3]=="a"?e.slice(5):e.slice(4))**2)**0.5)+","+r((P*i(b)**2+p*i(f)**2)**0.5)+","+r((P*i(c)**2+p*i(g)**2)**0.5)+j;
}

const RGB_Log_Shade=(p,c)=>{
    var i=parseInt,r=Math.round,[a,b,c,d]=c.split(","),P=p<0,t=P?0:p*255**2,P=P?1+p:1-p;
    return"rgb"+(d?"a(":"(")+r((P*i(a[3]=="a"?a.slice(5):a.slice(4))**2+t)**0.5)+","+r((P*i(b)**2+t)**0.5)+","+r((P*i(c)**2+t)**0.5)+(d?","+d:")");
}

    Want more info? Read the full writeup on github.

    PT

    (P.s. If anyone has the math for another blending method, please share.)