Usage

Download the plugin and add colpick.js and colpick.css to the head of your documents:

<script src="js/colpick.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/colpick.css" type="text/css"/>

Now you may call the colpick method on any jQuery object to create a color picker. By default you get a dropdown color picker:

Example - defaults

HTML

<button id="picker">Show Color Picker</button>

JS

$('#picker').colpick();

Options

Several options passed to the colpick function as an object allow you to customize the color picker. For example, passing flat:true makes the color picker always visible, as in the following example.

Example - Flat mode, hex layout, no submit button

HTML

<div id="picker"></div>

JS

$('#picker').colpick({

	flat:true,

	layout:'hex',

	submit:0

});

All the available options are:

Option Type Description
flat boolean Flat mode just displays the color picker in place, always visible, with no show/hide behavior. Use it with colpickShow() and colpickHide() to define your own show/hide behavior or if you want the picker to be always visible. Default: false
layout string Name of the color picker layout to use. Posible values are 'full' (RGB, HEX, and HSB fields), 'rgbhex' (no HSB fields) and hex (no HSB, no RGB). You can see the full layout at the top of the page. rgbhex and hex layouts are shown in the examples below. Default: 'full'
submit boolean If false the picker has no submit or OK button and no previous color viewer. If false use onChange function to get the picked color. Default: true
colorScheme string The color scheme to use for the picker, 'light' or 'dark'. Default: 'light'
submitText string The text to show on the submit button if active. Default: 'OK'
color string or object Default color. Hex string (eg. 'ff0000') or object for RGB (eg. {r:255, g:0, b:0}) and HSB (eg. {h:0, s:100, b:100}). Default: '11ff00'
showEvent string Event that shows the color picker. Default: 'click'
livePreview boolean If true color values change live while the user moves a selector or types in a field. Turn it off to improve speed. Default: true
onBeforeShow function Callback function triggered before the color picker is shown. Use it to define custom behavior. Should receive a colorpicker DOM object.
onShow function Callback function triggered when the color picker is shown. Use it to define custom behavior. Should receive a colorpicker DOM object.
onHide function Callback function triggered when the color picker is hidden. Use it to define custom behavior. Should receive a colorpicker DOM object.
onChange function Callback function triggered when the color is changed. This is the function that allows you to get the color picked by the user whenever it changes, whithout the user pressing the OK button. Should receive:
  • HSB object (eg. {h:0, s:100, b:100})
  • HEX string (with no #)
  • RGB object(eg. {r:255, g:0, b:0})
  • el element, the parent element on which colorpicker() was called. Use it to modify this parent element on change (see first example below).
  • bySetColor flag: if true, the onChange callback was fired by the colpickSetColor function and not by the user changing the color directly in the picker. There are some cases in which you'll want a different behaviour in this case (see last example).
onSubmit function Callback function triggered when the color is chosen by the user, using the OK button. Should receive exactly the same as onChange. It's never fired if using submit:0 option.

jQuery.fn Functions

These functions are the color picker's interface. Use them to control the color picker externally, but not to get color values. To retrieve color values from the picker use the onSubmit and onChange callbacks.

Function Description
colpick(options) The main function used to create a color picker.
colpickHide() Hides de color picker. Accepts no arguments. Use it to hide the picker with an external trigger.
colpickShow() Shows the color picker. Accepts no arguments. Use it to show the picker with an external trigger.
colpickSetColor(col,setCurrent) Use it to set the picker color. The onChange callback is fired with bySetColor set to true. Parameters:
  • col: a hex string (eg. 'd78b5a') or object for RGB (eg. {r:255, g:0, b:0}) and HSB (eg. {h:150, s:50, b:50})
  • setCurrent: If true the color picker's current color (the one to the right in layouts with submit button) is set in addition to the new color, which is always set.

jQuery Functions

The following functions are used internally by the color picker. However, they may also be required as utility functions by your application. They are made available as jQuery functions:

Function Description
$.colpick.rgbToHex(rgb) Receives an object like {r:255, g:0, b:0} and returns the corresponding HEX string (with no #).
$.colpick.rgbToHsb(rgb) Receives an object like {r:255, g:0, b:0} and returns the corresponding HSB object (eg. {h:0, s:100, b:100}). HSB values are not rounded. H is in the [0,360] range, while S and B are in the [0,100] range.
$.colpick.hsbToHex(hsb) Receives an object like {h:0, s:100, b:100} and returns the corresponding HEX string (with no #).
$.colpick.hsbToRgb(hsb) Receives an object like {h:0, s:100, b:100} and returns the corresponding RGB object (eg. {r:255, g:0, b:0}). RGB values are whole numbers in the [0,255] range.
$.colpick.hexToHsb(hex) Receives a hex string with no # and returns the corresponding HSB object (eg. {h:0, s:100, b:100}). HSB values are not rounded. H is in the [0,360] range, while S and B are in the [0,100] range.
$.colpick.hexToRgb(hex) Receives a hex string with no # and returns the corresponding RGB object (eg. {r:255, g:0, b:0}). RGB values are whole numbers in the [0,255] range.

Examples

Example - HEX textfield using onChange callback

HTML

# <input type="text" id="picker"></input>

JS

$('#picker').colpick({

	layout:'hex',

	submit:0,

	colorScheme:'dark',

	onChange:function(hsb,hex,rgb,el,bySetColor) {

		$(el).css('border-color','#'+hex);

		// Fill the text box just if the color was set using the picker, and not the colpickSetColor function.

		if(!bySetColor) $(el).val(hex);

	}

}).keyup(function(){

	$(this).colpickSetColor(this.value);

});

CSS

#picker {

	margin:0;

	padding:0;

	border:0;

	width:70px;

	height:20px;

	border-right:20px solid green;

	line-height:20px;

}
#

Example - Color boxes using onSubmit callback and rgbhex layout

HTML

<div class="color-box"></div>

<div class="color-box"></div>

<div class="color-box"></div>

JS

$('.color-box').colpick({

	colorScheme:'dark',

	layout:'rgbhex',

	color:'ff8800',

	onSubmit:function(hsb,hex,rgb,el) {

		$(el).css('background-color', '#'+hex);

		$(el).colpickHide();

	}

})

.css('background-color', '#ff8800');

CSS

.color-box {

	float:left;

	width:30px;

	height:30px;

	margin:5px;

	border: 1px solid white;

}