PALETTEUI

⬛ Shade Calculator

Pick a base color and a percentage to see it mixed toward black — instantly get the shaded hex and RGB values, with an original-vs-shaded preview.

🧮 Shade a Color

What is a Shade Calculator?

It darkens a color by scaling it toward black a set percentage of the way, channel by channel, and gives you back the resulting hex and RGB values — a fast way to build darker variants of a brand or UI color for hover states, borders, and dark surfaces.

Use it to build a light-to-dark color scale from one base hue, to derive hover and active states that stay recognisably related to your accent color, or to preview a darker variant before adding it to a design system.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

How does the shade calculator work?

Pick a base color and a percentage. Each of its red, green, and blue channels is scaled down toward 0 (black) by that percentage, and the three darkened channels are combined back into a hex color.

What's the difference between a shade and a tint?

A shade mixes a color toward black, making it darker and more muted — useful for hover states, borders, and dark-mode surfaces. A tint mixes toward white instead, making it lighter. Both preserve the same hue.

What percentage should I use for hover or active states?

A common pattern is a 10–20% shade for a subtle hover state and a deeper 30–40% shade for an active or pressed state, though the right amount depends on your base color's lightness and your contrast requirements.

Does a 100% shade always produce black?

Yes — scaling any color 100% of the way toward black produces pure black (0, 0, 0) regardless of the starting color, since every channel is reduced all the way to zero.