Generate Random Color distinguishable to Humans
javascript, jquery
Solution
You could use a fixed set of colors, such as the ones listed in the jquery.color.js plugin.
List of colors from jquery.color.js plugin:
Colors = {};
Colors.names = {
aqua: "#00ffff",
azure: "#f0ffff",
beige: "#f5f5dc",
black: "#000000",
blue: "#0000ff",
brown: "#a52a2a",
cyan: "#00ffff",
darkblue: "#00008b",
darkcyan: "#008b8b",
darkgrey: "#a9a9a9",
darkgreen: "#006400",
darkkhaki: "#bdb76b",
darkmagenta: "#8b008b",
darkolivegreen: "#556b2f",
darkorange: "#ff8c00",
darkorchid: "#9932cc",
darkred: "#8b0000",
darksalmon: "#e9967a",
darkviolet: "#9400d3",
fuchsia: "#ff00ff",
gold: "#ffd700",
green: "#008000",
indigo: "#4b0082",
khaki: "#f0e68c",
lightblue: "#add8e6",
lightcyan: "#e0ffff",
lightgreen: "#90ee90",
lightgrey: "#d3d3d3",
lightpink: "#ffb6c1",
lightyellow: "#ffffe0",
lime: "#00ff00",
magenta: "#ff00ff",
maroon: "#800000",
navy: "#000080",
olive: "#808000",
orange: "#ffa500",
pink: "#ffc0cb",
purple: "#800080",
violet: "#800080",
red: "#ff0000",
silver: "#c0c0c0",
white: "#ffffff",
yellow: "#ffff00"
};
The rest is simply picking a random property from a Javascript object.
Colors.random = function() {
var result;
var count = 0;
for (var prop in this.names)
if (Math.random() < 1/++count)
result = prop;
return result;
};
Using `Colors.random()` might get you a human-readable color. I even powered an example below.
(function(){
Colors = {};
Colors.names = {
aqua: "#00ffff",
azure: "#f0ffff",
beige: "#f5f5dc",
black: "#000000",
blue: "#0000ff",
brown: "#a52a2a",
cyan: "#00ffff",
darkblue: "#00008b",
darkcyan: "#008b8b",
darkgrey: "#a9a9a9",
darkgreen: "#006400",
darkkhaki: "#bdb76b",
darkmagenta: "#8b008b",
darkolivegreen: "#556b2f",
darkorange: "#ff8c00",
darkorchid: "#9932cc",
darkred: "#8b0000",
darksalmon: "#e9967a",
darkviolet: "#9400d3",
fuchsia: "#ff00ff",
gold: "#ffd700",
green: "#008000",
indigo: "#4b0082",
khaki: "#f0e68c",
lightblue: "#add8e6",
lightcyan: "#e0ffff",
lightgreen: "#90ee90",
lightgrey: "#d3d3d3",
lightpink: "#ffb6c1",
lightyellow: "#ffffe0",
lime: "#00ff00",
magenta: "#ff00ff",
maroon: "#800000",
navy: "#000080",
olive: "#808000",
orange: "#ffa500",
pink: "#ffc0cb",
purple: "#800080",
violet: "#800080",
red: "#ff0000",
silver: "#c0c0c0",
white: "#ffffff",
yellow: "#ffff00"
};
Colors.random = function() {
var result;
var count = 0;
for (var prop in this.names)
if (Math.random() < 1/++count)
result = prop;
return { name: result, rgb: this.names[result]};
};
var $placeholder = $(".placeholder");
$placeholder.click(function(){
var color = Colors.random();
$placeholder.css({'background-color': color.rgb});
$("#color").html("It's " + color.name);
});
})();
.placeholder {
width: 150px;
height: 150px;
border: 1px solid black;
}
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<div class="placeholder"></div>
<span id="color">Click the square above.</span>
Problem
I am trying to randomly generate a color in hex in javascript. However the colors generated are almost indistinguishable from eachother. Is there a way to improve it? Here is the code I am using: ``` function randomColor(){ var allowed = "ABCDEF0123456789", S = "#"; while(S.length < 7){ S += allowed.charAt(Math.floor((Math.random()*16)+1)); } return S; } ``` I heard something about HSL and HSV color model but can't get it to work in my code.