How to automatically generate N "distinct" colors?
I wrote the two methods below to automatically select N distinct colors. It works by defining a piecewise linear function on the RGB cube. The benefit of this is you can also get a progressive scale if that's what you want, but when N gets large the colors can start to look similar. I can also imagine evenly subdividing the RGB cube into a lattice and then drawing points. Does anyone know any other methods? I'm ruling out defining a list and then just cycling through it. I should also say I don't generally care if they clash or don't look nice, they just have to be visually distinct.
public static List<Color> pick(int num) {
List<Color> colors = new ArrayList<Color>();
if (num < 2)
return colors;
float dx = 1.0f / (float) (num - 1);
for (int i = 0; i < num; i++) {
colors.add(get(i * dx));
}
return colors;
}
public static Color get(float x) {
float r = 0.0f;
float g = 0.0f;
float b = 1.0f;
if (x >= 0.0f && x < 0.2f) {
x = x / 0.2f;
r = 0.0f;
g = x;
b = 1.0f;
} else if (x >= 0.2f && x < 0.4f) {
x = (x - 0.2f) / 0.2f;
r = 0.0f;
g = 1.0f;
b = 1.0f - x;
} else if (x >= 0.4f && x < 0.6f) {
x = (x - 0.4f) / 0.2f;
r = x;
g = 1.0f;
b = 0.0f;
} else if (x >= 0.6f && x < 0.8f) {
x = (x - 0.6f) / 0.2f;
r = 1.0f;
g = 1.0f - x;
b = 0.0f;
} else if (x >= 0.8f && x <= 1.0f) {
x = (x - 0.8f) / 0.2f;
r = 1.0f;
g = 0.0f;
b = x;
}
return new Color(r, g, b);
}
Answer
This questions appears in quite a few SO discussions:
- Algorithm For Generating Unique Colors
- Generate unique colours
- Generate distinctly different RGB colors in graphs
- How to generate n different colors for any natural number n?
Different solutions are proposed, but none are optimal. Luckily, science comes to the rescue
Arbitrary N
- Colour displays for categorical images (free download)
- A WEB SERVICE TO PERSONALISE MAP COLOURING (free download, a webservice solution should be available by next month)
- An Algorithm for the Selection of High-Contrast Color Sets (the authors offer a free C++ implementation)
- High-contrast sets of colors (The first algorithm for the problem)
The last 2 will be free via most university libraries / proxies.
N is finite and relatively small
In this case, one could go for a list solution. A very interesting article in the subject is freely available:
There are several color lists to consider:
- Boynton's list of 11 colors that are almost never confused (available in the first paper of the previous section)
- Kelly's 22 colors of maximum contrast (available in the paper above)
I also ran into this Palette by an MIT student. Lastly, The following links may be useful in converting between different color systems / coordinates (some colors in the articles are not specified in RGB, for instance):
- http://chem8.org/uch/space-55036-do-blog-id-5333.html
- https://metacpan.org/pod/Color::Library::Dictionary::NBS_ISCC
- Color Theory: How to convert Munsell HVC to RGB/HSB/HSL
For Kelly's and Boynton's list, I've already made the conversion to RGB (with the exception of white and black, which should be obvious). Some C# code:
public static ReadOnlyCollection<Color> KellysMaxContrastSet
{
get { return _kellysMaxContrastSet.AsReadOnly(); }
}
private static readonly List<Color> _kellysMaxContrastSet = new List<Color>
{
UIntToColor(0xFFFFB300), //Vivid Yellow
UIntToColor(0xFF803E75), //Strong Purple
UIntToColor(0xFFFF6800), //Vivid Orange
UIntToColor(0xFFA6BDD7), //Very Light Blue
UIntToColor(0xFFC10020), //Vivid Red
UIntToColor(0xFFCEA262), //Grayish Yellow
UIntToColor(0xFF817066), //Medium Gray
//The following will not be good for people with defective color vision
UIntToColor(0xFF007D34), //Vivid Green
UIntToColor(0xFFF6768E), //Strong Purplish Pink
UIntToColor(0xFF00538A), //Strong Blue
UIntToColor(0xFFFF7A5C), //Strong Yellowish Pink
UIntToColor(0xFF53377A), //Strong Violet
UIntToColor(0xFFFF8E00), //Vivid Orange Yellow
UIntToColor(0xFFB32851), //Strong Purplish Red
UIntToColor(0xFFF4C800), //Vivid Greenish Yellow
UIntToColor(0xFF7F180D), //Strong Reddish Brown
UIntToColor(0xFF93AA00), //Vivid Yellowish Green
UIntToColor(0xFF593315), //Deep Yellowish Brown
UIntToColor(0xFFF13A13), //Vivid Reddish Orange
UIntToColor(0xFF232C16), //Dark Olive Green
};
public static ReadOnlyCollection<Color> BoyntonOptimized
{
get { return _boyntonOptimized.AsReadOnly(); }
}
private static readonly List<Color> _boyntonOptimized = new List<Color>
{
Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 255), //Blue
Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 0), //Red
Color.FromArgb(0, 255, 0), //Green
Color.FromArgb(255, 255, 0), //Yellow
Color.FromArgb(255, 0, 255), //Magenta
Color.FromArgb(255, 128, 128), //Pink
Color.FromArgb(128, 128, 128), //Gray
Color.FromArgb(128, 0, 0), //Brown
Color.FromArgb(255, 128, 0), //Orange
};
static public Color UIntToColor(uint color)
{
var a = (byte)(color >> 24);
var r = (byte)(color >> 16);
var g = (byte)(color >> 8);
var b = (byte)(color >> 0);
return Color.FromArgb(a, r, g, b);
}
And here are the RGB values in hex and 8-bit-per-channel representations:
kelly_colors_hex = [
0xFFB300, # Vivid Yellow
0x803E75, # Strong Purple
0xFF6800, # Vivid Orange
0xA6BDD7, # Very Light Blue
0xC10020, # Vivid Red
0xCEA262, # Grayish Yellow
0x817066, # Medium Gray
# The following don't work well for people with defective color vision
0x007D34, # Vivid Green
0xF6768E, # Strong Purplish Pink
0x00538A, # Strong Blue
0xFF7A5C, # Strong Yellowish Pink
0x53377A, # Strong Violet
0xFF8E00, # Vivid Orange Yellow
0xB32851, # Strong Purplish Red
0xF4C800, # Vivid Greenish Yellow
0x7F180D, # Strong Reddish Brown
0x93AA00, # Vivid Yellowish Green
0x593315, # Deep Yellowish Brown
0xF13A13, # Vivid Reddish Orange
0x232C16, # Dark Olive Green
]
kelly_colors = dict(vivid_yellow=(255, 179, 0),
strong_purple=(128, 62, 117),
vivid_orange=(255, 104, 0),
very_light_blue=(166, 189, 215),
vivid_red=(193, 0, 32),
grayish_yellow=(206, 162, 98),
medium_gray=(129, 112, 102),
# these aren't good for people with defective color vision:
vivid_green=(0, 125, 52),
strong_purplish_pink=(246, 118, 142),
strong_blue=(0, 83, 138),
strong_yellowish_pink=(255, 122, 92),
strong_violet=(83, 55, 122),
vivid_orange_yellow=(255, 142, 0),
strong_purplish_red=(179, 40, 81),
vivid_greenish_yellow=(244, 200, 0),
strong_reddish_brown=(127, 24, 13),
vivid_yellowish_green=(147, 170, 0),
deep_yellowish_brown=(89, 51, 21),
vivid_reddish_orange=(241, 58, 19),
dark_olive_green=(35, 44, 22))
For all you Java developers, here are the JavaFX colors:
// Don't forget to import javafx.scene.paint.Color;
private static final Color[] KELLY_COLORS = {
Color.web("0xFFB300"), // Vivid Yellow
Color.web("0x803E75"), // Strong Purple
Color.web("0xFF6800"), // Vivid Orange
Color.web("0xA6BDD7"), // Very Light Blue
Color.web("0xC10020"), // Vivid Red
Color.web("0xCEA262"), // Grayish Yellow
Color.web("0x817066"), // Medium Gray
Color.web("0x007D34"), // Vivid Green
Color.web("0xF6768E"), // Strong Purplish Pink
Color.web("0x00538A"), // Strong Blue
Color.web("0xFF7A5C"), // Strong Yellowish Pink
Color.web("0x53377A"), // Strong Violet
Color.web("0xFF8E00"), // Vivid Orange Yellow
Color.web("0xB32851"), // Strong Purplish Red
Color.web("0xF4C800"), // Vivid Greenish Yellow
Color.web("0x7F180D"), // Strong Reddish Brown
Color.web("0x93AA00"), // Vivid Yellowish Green
Color.web("0x593315"), // Deep Yellowish Brown
Color.web("0xF13A13"), // Vivid Reddish Orange
Color.web("0x232C16"), // Dark Olive Green
};
the following is the unsorted kelly colors according to the order above.
the following is the sorted kelly colors according to hues (note that some yellows are not very contrasting)
