Colors NCol
What are NCol colors?
NCol (Natural Color) is a color system developed by W3Schools. It is based on the use of natural shades that are as close as possible to those found in nature. These colors are used in web design to give a more natural, soft look to websites and interfaces.
In the context of NCol, colors are used that look natural and harmonious, and do not create the effect of bright or sharp transitions. These can be colors that imitate natural elements, such as green forest, blue sky, brown and sand shades, etc.
How does it work?
The color of NCol is given by a letter denoting a color and a number indicating the percentage of distance from that color.
Colors used:
- R — Red;
- Y — Yellow;
- G — Green;
- C — Cyan;
- B — Blue;
- M — Magenta.
For example:
- R30 means red, shifted by 30% towards yellow (i.e., more orange).
- B50 means blue color offset by 50% towards green (i.e., blue).
Advantages of NCol:
- Simplicity: Easy to understand and remember.
- Intuitive: Corresponds to the natural perception of colors.
- Harmony: NCol colors create a harmonious and natural atmosphere, making the interface pleasing to the eye.
- Developer-friendly: You can quickly get the shade you want by changing the numerical value.
- User-friendliness: Websites that use natural colors can be less perceptive-loaded, so users can spend more time on such sites without feeling tired.
- Relevance to environmental and nature topics: If your project is related to nature, health, or ecology, such colors will be very appropriate.
Disadvantages of NCol:
- Limited: Doesn't cover all possible shades. Since the NCol palette focuses on natural shades, this approach may not be suitable for projects that require brighter, more dynamic, or "trendy" colors.
- Maybe less expressive: Natural-looking colors may look less vibrant or expressive, which is not always suitable for brands that want to stand out or attract attention.
- Non-standardized: Not an official standard, so may not be supported by some tools.
- Subjectivity: The way colors are perceived can vary from person to person.
Example of use:
- Eco-friendly sites: For a site dedicated to environmental protection, you can use the NCol palette to highlight natural hues — green, brown, blue — while creating a sense of oneness with nature.
- Health interfaces: A site or app related to a healthy lifestyle can apply these colors to create a calming atmosphere.
- Intuitive palettes: Web pages where colors are selected using intuitive palettes.
- Design Apps: Apps that allow users to easily choose colors without knowing the technical details.
NCol can be used in HTML and CSS to specify the color of text, backgrounds, frames, and other elements.
NCol Alternatives:
There are other color designation systems, such as:
- RGB: Specifies the color using three numbers corresponding to the intensity of red, green, and blue.
- HEX: Similar to RGB, but uses a hexadecimal number system.
- HSL: Specifies color using hue, saturation, and lightness.
Conclusions
The choice of color designation system depends on your needs and preferences. NCol can be a convenient option for quick and intuitive color selection, especially for beginners.
Overall, NCol (Natural Color) is a user-friendly color system that helps create interfaces and designs that look natural and comfortable for users, but has limitations in color selection for brighter or non-standard projects.
How do you get NCol color?
To get an NCol color, you can use the NCol calculator.
NCol Calculator
Natural Colors (NCol)
Natural colors (NCol) is an initiative from W3Schools.
The system is designed to make it easier to select HTML colors.
NCol specifies colors using a color letter with a number to specify the distance (in percent) from the color.
R30 means 30% away from Red , moving towards Yellow. (In other words: Red with 30% Yellow)
| Letter | Color | Hues |
|---|---|---|
| R | Red |
R
R25
R50
R75
|
| Y | Yellow |
Y
Y25
Y50
Y75
|
| G | Green |
G
G25
G50
G75
|
| C | Cyan |
C
C25
C50
C75
|
| B | Blue |
B
B25
B50
B75
|
| M | Magenta |
M
M25
M50
M75
|
| R | Y | G | C | B | M | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Color and distance can also be given in hues (0-360):
| R = 000 | Y = 060 | G = 120 | C = 180 | B = 240 | M = 300 |
HTML Support
NCol is not supported in HTML, but it is very close to the new HWB color system suggested in CSS4.
While waiting for CSS4, you can include W3Schools' Color library, and use NCol as an HTML attribute like this:
Example
<div data-w3-color="R50,50%,0">
<p>London is the capital city of England.
It is the most populous city in the United Kingdom,
with a metropolitan area of over 13 million inhabitants.</p>
</div>
<script src="../lib/w3color.js"></script>
Try It Yourself »
W3Schools Color Library
The JavaScript library used in the example above can be downloaded from
https://www.w3schools.com/lib/w3color.js.
You can also use an alternative download from our website W3SchoolsEn. The Best at the link: https://w3schoolsua.github.io/lib/w3color.js.
Why NCol?
Trying to explain colors using RGB or HEX notation is very difficult.
Can you tell what color rgb(199,21,133) is?
RGB is based on how to physically produce colors by mixing light sources.
NCol is based on what colors look like to the human eye.
Because of this, NCol makes it much easier to describe colors.
Natural colors were first described by Karl Ewald Konstantin Hering (Germany 1834 - 1918).
