Web Design Software Mac
Digital Color Meter

When it comes to web design software Mac OS X has one useful app built right in.

Hex Color Values Are Still There in Lion

UPDATE: Thank you to Mac Software Tutorials reader Dan for pointing out that - yes, hexadecimal values are still available in Digital Color Meter - you just need to know where to look.

Go to View -> Display Values -> as Hexadecimal.

You will now see the RGB values as shown below:

Take the number/letter values after the "0x" and put the RGB's together. So in the above example, the RGB value for the gray color is #A8A8A8.

Now tell me, why would Apple go and hide this?

Hex Color Values Disappeared

Unfortunately it has been CRIPPLED by Mac OS X Lion.

You thought I was talking about iWeb didn't you?

Nope - try again.

I am talking about Digital Color Meter.

If you don't know what it is - here's the short version:

Have you ever wished you could find the hex color value of a certain item on your screen?

Digital Color Meter is a little app that is located in your utilities folder. It allows you to zero in on a pixel on your screen and find the RGB color code for it.

As a graphic designer or web designer - you can then take this value to create a theme for your website or graphics.

This RGB color code is most useful as a hex value. This is a 6 digit/letter code that is recognized in html.

Under Snow Leopard

When you open Digital Color Meter there is dropdown box that allows you to choose the format of the RGB color that you are looking at.

Under Snow Leopard one of the options was "RGB as Hex Value, 8-bit".

If you don't believe me - look at the screenshot here.

Under Mac OS X Lion

If you have upgraded to Lion, open Digital Color Meter and look in that same dropdown box. (screenshot below)

Do my eyes deceive me - or is it just not there?

The Solution: Convert

Right now my solution to this problem is to use a free conversion tool like this one at easycalculation.com. (bookmark it now)

It takes the 9 digit RGB value that Digital Color Meter spits out and converts it to a 6 digit/letter hex code.

It's one extra step in your workflow and one big step backwards for Lion. When it came to useful web design software Mac had this one nailed down - and then they changed it.

Hopefully this is just an unintentional omission on the part of Apple. Here's hoping they bring this feature back in a future update.

Return from web design software Mac to Mac OS X Lion Guide.

Return from Digital Color Meter to Mac Software Tutorials home.