RGB to Colortone
Find the closest named color for RGB values.
Type a RGB value or pick a color – the result updates instantly.
Preview
RGB to Colortone Converter
Enter red, green, and blue channel values and find out what the color is called. rgb(200, 60, 90) is closest to Crimson, while rgb(128, 0, 32) – a classic burgundy – lands on Maroon. Six candidate names are shown, each with a swatch and a ΔE distance score.
Describing colors for accessibility
Numbers mean nothing to a person who cannot see the swatch. When you write alt text for a product photo, a chart legend, or an error message like "fields marked in red", a spoken name helps screen reader users and people with color vision deficiencies follow along. Good practice:
- Use the closest name as a starting point: "a crimson dress".
- Round unfamiliar names down to plain words when needed: Maroon → "dark red".
- Never rely on color alone – pair it with text, an icon, or a pattern (WCAG 1.4.1).
Why CIEDE2000 instead of RGB distance
To rank names, the tool converts your RGB value into CIELAB, a space built around human vision with a lightness axis and two opponent-color axes. Distances are then measured with CIEDE2000, which adds corrections for hue, chroma, and lightness so that equal ΔE values look equally different. Plain RGB distance would treat a jump in blue the same as a jump in green, even though our eyes are far more sensitive to green.
Worked example
rgb(200, 60, 90) (HEX #C83C5A):
| Rank | Name | HEX | ΔE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crimson | #DC143C | 7.96 |
| 2 | IndianRed | #CD5C5C | 9.03 |
| 3 | Brown | #A52A2A | 13.08 |
| 4 | FireBrick | #B22222 | 13.89 |
A ΔE near 8 means "similar": Crimson is the right family, but the input is a bit softer and pinker. For a caption, "crimson red" works well.
To see the same color as a code, use RGB to HEX; to start from a hex value, see HEX to Colortone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which RGB formats can I enter?
Any of rgb(200, 60, 90), rgba(200, 60, 90, 0.5), 200, 60, 90, or 200 60 90. Channels are 0 to 255; the alpha value is ignored when looking up the name.
Why is my color not an exact match?
There are only 141 CSS color names but more than 16 million RGB colors, so most values fall between names. The ΔE score tells you how far the nearest name is; above 10 it is only a rough description.
Can I use the color name in alt text?
Yes. A plain name like Crimson or Maroon is far more useful to a screen reader user than rgb(200, 60, 90). For broad descriptions you can simplify further, for example 'dark red'.