Colortone to HSV
Convert color names to HSV / HSB values.
Type a Colortone (color name) value or pick a color – the result updates instantly.
Preview
Colortone to HSV (HSB) Converter
Pick a CSS color name and see it as hue, saturation, and value – the three sliders found in almost every color picker. SteelBlue becomes hsv(207.3, 61.1%, 70.6%) and HotPink becomes hsv(330, 58.8%, 100%). HEX, RGB, HSL, and CMYK are listed in the same table.
Using names as a starting point for variations
A named color is a good anchor, and HSV makes it easy to build around it. Keep the hue fixed and:
- lower value for hover and pressed states,
- lower saturation for disabled or muted variants,
- rotate hue by 180° for a complementary accent.
For SteelBlue, a pressed state at hsv(207.3, 61.1%, 55%) stays recognizably the same blue while clearly reading as darker.
Named colors on the HSV wheel
| Name | Hue | Saturation | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crimson | 348° | 90.9% | 86.3% |
| Orange | 38.8° | 100% | 100% |
| Chartreuse | 90.1° | 100% | 100% |
| DodgerBlue | 209.6° | 88.2% | 100% |
| Indigo | 274.6° | 100% | 51% |
Chartreuse, often assumed to be yellow, sits almost exactly at 90° – halfway between yellow (60°) and green (120°).
HSV distance versus perceived difference
It is tempting to compare two names by subtracting their HSV numbers, but the model was designed for picking colors, not for measuring them. SteelBlue (207°) and DodgerBlue (210°) are only about 3° apart in hue, yet they look quite different (ΔE 8.36) because their saturation and value differ. Conversely, Blue and MediumBlue differ by nearly 20% in value but only ΔE 6.38 in CIEDE2000 terms. CIEDE2000 works in the CIELAB space and weighs lightness, chroma, and hue the way human vision does – that is the metric FowTools uses when it looks up names in the other direction with HSV to Colortone.
To convert your adjusted HSV back into a code, use HSV to HEX.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the HSV value of Coral?
Coral (#FF7F50, rgb(255, 127, 80)) is hsv(16.1, 68.6%, 100%). Its brightest channel, red, is at the maximum 255, so the value is 100%.
Why do gray names have a hue of 0?
Grays have equal red, green, and blue, so saturation is 0 and hue is undefined. By convention the converter reports 0°. Only the value changes: Silver is 75.3%, Gray 50.2%.
Are two names with similar HSV values always similar colors?
Not necessarily. HSV is not perceptually uniform, so the same numeric gap can look large in one part of the color wheel and small in another. A perceptual metric such as CIEDE2000 ΔE is the reliable way to compare.