Image color picking — Verify the result

Worked example

Convert the HEX by hand, paste it into a second tool and compare the swatch with the spot you clicked in the original.

The conversion is simple enough to do mentally: each pair of HEX digits is one channel, so #6D28D9 is 6D = 109, 28 = 40 and D9 = 217, which must match rgb(109, 40, 217) shown beside it. If the two lines ever disagree, you copied from different picks. The tool also draws a colour swatch next to the codes; hold it beside the clicked area on screen.

A brand manager approving a banner should paste the HEX into a blank page or a design file as a square, place it directly against the logo in the source image, and look for a visible seam. A visible seam means the sample came from an edge, a gradient or a different layer.

The usual mistake is trusting the first number. Click a second and third pixel in the same flat area; in a PNG logo they should be identical, and in a JPG they should differ by only a few units per channel. Also test a pixel that you know is plain white or black as a sanity check.

Finally, check the colour in context. Put the text colour on the background colour at normal size and see if it is readable; for body text, published accessibility guidance asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 to 1, which you can measure with any contrast checker.

Pixel selected in an image

HEX and RGB values

A match on screen confirms the number, but print colour such as CMYK or a spot ink must be checked separately with the printer.