Color picker galore!

A color picker allows the users to preview the color and select it by clicking on it. It is useful when you want to provide some customization for the user (for eg: select a background color, letter color etc). But I think is a very useful piece of code in the admin side of a CMS site (Select font color, theme color or anything that you can imagine). There are simple scripts which generates a simple web safe color palette to advanced ones which generates a color palette like Adobe Photoshop.

Here are some cool color picker scripts that can be used. Some of them are written using plain javascript – means you don’t need any javascript library like jQuery, Mootools. And some of them are written specifically for jQuery, Mootools or Prototype (Here the advantage is a smaller footprint. If you’re already using a javascript library like jQuery or Mootools, use the one particularly written for that library). There are more than 10 scripts to choose from.

Plain Javascript scripts for Color picker

There were lot of scripts using plain javascript. Some are larger in size and some uses a popup window interface which is not Web 2.0 standard (It will be considered as an advertisement popup and will be blocked by most of the browsers). I selected three of them which are smaller in size and has the DHTML style popup or inine popup.

Use any of the following if you are not using a javascript library like jQuery or Mootools.

DHTML color picker from Free-color-picker.com

It can handle web safe colors and grays. Triggering can be customized in many ways. Files can be downloaded separately according to your needs. It also supports popup window. It is a small script – just around 8KB. But if you wan to show more colors, you can’t use it. Also, the license states that it should not be modified and the link to the site should not be altered.

Dependencies	None
Size	8KB
Restrictions	License states that script should not be altered. Also, the link should not be removed.
Demo	Open | Open in new window
Info & Download	Open

jsColor

jscolor is JavaScript component extending standard form controls of the smooth color pickerpickerize your text fields

It is a good and very easy to use script when you want to show more colors.

Dependencies	None
Size	24KB
Restrictions	None (GPL)
Demo	Open | Open in new window
Info & Download	Open

Color Jack

It is the smallest of them all – just 3.5KB. Also this site has two other pickers Color Picker v2 and Color Sphere
. Choose one that matches your required style.

Dependencies	None
Size	4KB
Restrictions	None
Demo	Color Sphere | Color Sphere Color Picker 1.0 | Color Picker 1.0 Color Picker V2.0 | Color Picker 2.0
Info & Download	Open

Others

• Color Piker by Nogray.com It is a photoshop like color picker

Color Pickers for jQuery

jQuery is a wonderful javascript library and the number of available plugins are growing rapidly. If you’re already using jQuery, choose a color picker from here.

Farbtastic color picker plug-in

Farbtastic: jQuery color picker plug-in

Farbtastic is a jQuery plug-in that can add one or more color picker widgets into a page through JavaScript. Each widget is then linked to an existing element (e.g. a text field) and will update the element’s value when a color is selected.
Farbtastic uses layered transparent PNGs to render a saturation/luminance gradient inside of a hue circle. No Flash, no pixel sized divs.

Dependencies	jQuery
Size	9KB
Restrictions	None
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Color picker by eyecon.ro

A simple component to select color in the same way you select color in Adobe Photoshop

• Easy to use and looks good
• Powerful controls for color selection
• Easy to customize the look by changing some images

Dependencies	jQuery
Size	16KB
Restrictions	None
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Normal color picker by www.felecan.com

It is a lightweight color picker.

Dependencies	jQuery
Size	Less than 5KB
Restrictions	None
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

jQuery color picker by Syronex

It is a simple color picker which is useful when you want to show a defined set of colors and the user should select only from them (For eg: To select a theme color in web sites).

Dependencies	jQuery
Size	Less than 4KB
Restrictions	None (GPL)
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Others

• Rudimentary jQuery color picker
• jQuery color picker by intelliance.com

Color pickers for Mootools

Moo Rainbow

mooRainbow is a powerful Javascript color picker that allows you to visually choose and use colors as a real and useful application.

Dependencies	MooTools
Size	5KB
Restrictions	None (MIT License)
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Mootools color picker by Sweetvision.com

The Color Picker displays a Hue selection bar Saturation/Value selection box, Text fields for entering HSV and RGB fields. The dialog for the color picker is drag-able and there are many actions that you can attach function calls to in order to allow your application to respond to events in the Color Picker. The size of the Hue Bar and the SV Box can be set to any size using options. The elements of the Color Picker can be styled to match the design of your site.

It supports two types of interface – a popup layer type and an in-place color picker

Dependencies	MooTools
Size	12KB
Restrictions	None
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Color pickers for Prototype

Color picker by John Dyer

It is a photoshop like color plugin built on prototype library.

Dependencies	Prototype
Size	10KB
Restrictions	None
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Prototype color picker by Myles Eftos

It is a simple color picker which support web safe palette.

Dependencies	Prototype
Size	5KB
Restrictions	None
Demo & Download	Open | Open in new window

Related posts:

1. Most useful prototype / script.aculo.us plugins
2. Improved lava lamp effect for jQuery and Mootools
3. jQuery and Mootools plugin to show tooltips
4. Shadow box
5. Fancy Upload – Ajax file upload for MooTools

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