Free content for your website or blog
Home About Us Article Writing Most Read Articles Authors Blog Wiki Contact Us
RSS Register Login
Topics
 
Home > Business >

Browser safe colors tips

Date Published: 21st July 2008
Bookmark and Share Republish Browser safe colors tips
Author: Dharmender Kumar RSS Views: N/A PRINT ASK ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
Color Shorthand
Once you've started using CSS layouts for your Web designs, you may notice something odd about the way the colors are defined. Rather than the standard 6-character long code after the pound sign (#cc99ff), instead you see just three characters (#c9f). This is called color shorthand and it takes advantage of the fact that the browser-safe Web palette uses triplets that are always doubled. In other words, each color triplet is made of 3 pairs of characters 0-f (base 16), and with browser-safe colors they are doubled. So, to write color shorthand, you simply remove the duplicate character.
For example:
White is written #fff in shorthand
Black is written #000
Red is #f00
Green is #0f0
Blue is #00f
and so on...
Finding Color Triads

If you've read my article on color harmony you will know that color triads are color groups that work well together and bring a lot of life to a design. Using hexadecimal color codes, it's easy to create color triads from any color set you might have.
A very basic color triad might be orange, purple, and sea-gren. Written #fc0, #c0f, and #0fc. In this color triad the three characters are f, c, and 0. By changing the combination of the triplets, you can create different colors that are harmonious with one another. Here's how to do it.
1. Pick your primary color.
For the above color scheme, I used orange: #fc0.
2. Rotate the characters so that the three characters are in completely different positions.
I put f last, c first, and 0 in the middle. This gave me a light purple color: #c0f

3. Rotate the characters one final time so that they are all in different positions.
There is only one combination left where the characters have not been in those positions, a sea-green: #0fc
You can do this with non-browser-safe colors as well, just treat each double character as you did the single characters. For example, in my iris layout I used: blue #859CFE, pink #FE859C, and green #9CFE85. The three double character groups are 85, 9c, and fe.
Is Browser Safe Really Required?
The browser safe Web palette was developed seven or eight years ago when it was very common to find computers with 8-bit monitors that could only support 256 colors. This meant that if you used a color scheme that used colors that were not browser safe, they would dither and this could look spectacularly ugly on those screens. I saw instances where a color that was a pretty light green ended up looking almost hot pink on an 8-bit monitor.

The thing is...
If you don't know who's viewing your site (either because you don't get browser and monitor stats or because you don't use them) you won't know what your site looks like to them. Using browser safe colors is a safe bet. And unlike Jason's assertion above, it is possible to create nice looking pages using a browser safe color palette. It is also almost easier to create an ugly looking page using non-browser safe colors. After all, there are more of them!
The important thing about browser safe or non-browser safe is that you make the choice knowingly. I chose to use non-browser safe colors on the iris layout because it better matched the iris. However, if I knew that I had customers who used 8-bit monitors, this is not a layout I would recommend and I would consider switching to browser safe colors.
When you choose your color palette, you should understand color theory so that you get colors that go well together. You should also understand your audience, so that you use the Web safe palette if required.

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Web Designing, Do please browse for more information at our website :-
http://www.thedesignbuild.com
http://www.webdesign.reprintarticlesite.com
Tags: color scheme, pairs, different colors, layouts, triplets, shorthand, web designs, purple color
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_582551_15.html
About the Author
Search engines use a concept known as link popularity in determing the rankings for competing websites. The idea behind it is simple: If many other websites are linking to yours, then it must have some valuable content. With all else being equal, search engines will give a site with higher link popularity a better ranking than its competitor because the site with higher link popularity has demonstrated that it has content that others find useful. There are three main factors involved in determining a site's link popularity: quantity, quality, and relevancy. Quantity is fairly straightforward -- the more links the better. More important is the quality of the links going to your site. One link coming from a very important site with high link popularity can be worth more than a dozen links from sites that have low link popularities. Finally, links coming from sites that have content related to yours will be worth more than those that don't. A link from a site that focuses on the same keyword phrases as your site will be weighted much more heavily than one from a completely unrelated site. Your Site's Link Popularity If you are targeting highly competitive keywords, then you should definitely put in the time to work on your link popularity. Below are some of the different avenues you can take to improve your site's link popularity. They are listed from the easiest to most time consuming. Directories Getting your site listed in directories is one of the fastest ways to build your link popularity. Probably the most important directory to be listed on is DMOZ. It is free and several large search engines including Google, use the DMOZ database for their own directories. By getting your site listed on DMOZ, you'll effectively be listed on Google's directory as well as dozens of other directories that use DMOZ content. Find potential link partners Another way you can improve your link popularity is to contact other websites you'd like to link to and offer to trade links. Make sure you personalize your email and include an explanation of the benefits of link popularity. Your request should be professional and give the impression that you put some thought into this. Identify some positive points in the site you wish to link to and mention them in your email. Point out the benefits their visitors will receive by visiting your site and make sure everything is working on your site. Most webmasters won't want to link to your site if it has poor content or broken links. Writing Articles for Republishing One of the best ways you can improve the link popularity of your site is to write articles and allow them to be republished on other sites. There are many article submission directories which webmasters use to find content for their websites. At the end of each article, you include a short profile about yourself and a link to your website. It's a good idea to explicitly state that your article may be republished only if the link to your website is active. Final Tips Avoid Link Farms A link farm is a reciprocal linking service where everyone participating agrees to link to each other. Also known as free-for-all link pages, there's usually no foundation or relevancy in the linking and it's simply an attempt at improving link popularity. Most search engines are aware of link farms and will either penalize or ban participants from being indexed completely. The minimal benefits you can get from having random unrelated links directed to your site are simply not worth the risk of getting banned by a major search engine. Writing quality content can do wonders for your search rankings, but if you allow other sites to use the content on the understanding that they link back to your site, it can benefit the both of you. It helps them rank better in the search engines while providing content they otherwise wouldn't have the time or knowledge to write. It helps you because you get more exposure to your work while improving your link popularity. Use Keywords in Your Link Text Most search engines take note of the text used for links. A link containing an important keyword phrase will be worth more than the same link with unrelated text. For example, instead of using your URL as the link text, use a keyword phrase.
Bookmark and Share Republish Browser safe colors tips

Ask a Question About this Article

>> Kelly's a big tipper!
>> If your jelly did not set can you heat it back up ...
>> Is there a way to dehydrate food without using a ...
>> How can I thicken my salsa? First time making ...
Powered by