The palette is split up into a few different sections:
- 40 Standard colors, which includes 8 system colors
- 8 Chart fill colors
- 8 Chart line colors
The 40 standard colors are available in all color selection dialogs in Excel, including the drop-down dialogs on the Formatting toolbar. In ExcelWriter, they can all be accessed through the Palette class's "get" methods. The system colors can also be accessed through the Palette.SystemColor enumeration. For example:
//--- Get black using the SystemColor enumeration
Color black = Palette.SystemColor.Black;
Chart Fills and Chart Lines are what Excel uses when automatically setting fill and line colors on charts. Chart fills and lines not limited to these colors however. These colors are available as options in Patterns and Chart color dialogs (i.e. Format > Cells > Patterns). In ExcelWriter, all Chart fill and line colors can be accessed and replaced using the Palette's "get" and "set" methods.
All standard and chart colors can be replaced with other colors using the Palette class's "set" methods except for the system colors. For example:
//--- Replace color at index 4 with RGB values (162, 221, 138)
wb.Palette.SetColorAt(4, 162, 221, 138);
This would be equivalent to changing the color palette in Excel through Tools > Options > Color.
Palette Color Reference Charts
Provided below are two views of the default palette. The first is ordered by palette index, and the second is similar to how the palette is displayed from within Excel.
The colors in order of palette index
The palette index is the same index that is used from ExcelWriter to access a specific color in the palette, for example:
//--- Get the color at palette index 9
Color darkGreen = wb.Palette.GetColorAt(9);
The RGB and HEX equivalents of each color are provided.
| Palette Index |
Color |
RGB |
HEX |
System Color |
| 0 |
|
0, 0, 0 |
#000000 |
Black |
| 1 |
|
255, 255, 255 |
#FFFFFF |
White |
| 2 |
|
255, 0, 0 |
#FF0000 |
Red |
| 3 |
|
0, 255, 0 |
#00FF00 |
Green |
| 4 |
|
0, 0, 255 |
#0000FF |
Blue |
| 5 |
|
255, 255, 0 |
#FFFF00 |
Yellow |
| 6 |
|
255, 0, 255 |
#FF00FF |
Magenta |
| 7 |
|
0, 255, 255 |
#00FFFF |
Cyan |
| 8 |
|
128, 0, 0 |
#800000 |
|
| 9 |
|
0, 128, 0 |
#008000 |
|
| 10 |
|
0, 0, 128 |
#000080 |
|
| 11 |
|
128, 128, 0 |
#808000 |
|
| 12 |
|
128, 0, 128 |
#800080 |
|
| 13 |
|
0, 128, 128 |
#008080 |
|
| 14 |
|
192, 192, 192 |
#C0C0C0 |
|
| 15 |
|
128, 128, 128 |
#808080 |
|
| 16 |
|
153, 153, 255 |
#9999FF |
Chart Fills |
| 17 |
|
153, 51, 102 |
#993366 |
| 18 |
|
255, 255, 204 |
#FFFFCC |
| 19 |
|
204, 255, 255 |
#CCFFFF |
| 20 |
|
102, 0, 102 |
#660066 |
| 21 |
|
255, 128, 128 |
#FF8080 |
| 22 |
|
0, 102, 204 |
#0066CC |
| 23 |
|
204, 204, 255 |
#CCCCFF |
| 24 |
|
0, 0, 128 |
#000080 |
Chart Lines |
| 25 |
|
255, 0, 255 |
#FF00FF |
| 26 |
|
255, 255, 0 |
#FFFF00 |
| 27 |
|
0, 255, 255 |
#00FFFF |
| 28 |
|
128, 0, 128 |
#800080 |
| 29 |
|
128, 0, 0 |
#800000 |
| 30 |
|
0, 128, 128 |
#008080 |
| 31 |
|
0, 0, 255 |
#0000FF |
| 32 |
|
0, 204, 255 |
#00CCFF |
|
| 33 |
|
204, 255, 255 |
#CCFFFF |
|
| 34 |
|
204, 255, 204 |
#CCFFCC |
|
| 35 |
|
255, 255, 153 |
#FFFF99 |
|
| 36 |
|
153, 204, 255 |
#99CCFF |
|
| 37 |
|
255, 153, 204 |
#FF99CC |
|
| 38 |
|
204, 153, 255 |
#CC99FF |
|
| 39 |
|
255, 204, 153 |
#FFCC99 |
|
| 40 |
|
51, 102, 255 |
#3366FF |
|
| 41 |
|
51, 204, 204 |
#33CCCC |
|
| 42 |
|
153, 204, 0 |
#99CC00 |
|
| 43 |
|
255, 204, 0 |
#FFCC00 |
|
| 44 |
|
255, 153, 0 |
#FF9900 |
|
| 45 |
|
255, 102, 0 |
#FF6600 |
|
| 46 |
|
102, 102, 153 |
#666699 |
|
| 47 |
|
150, 150, 150 |
#969696 |
|
| 48 |
|
0, 51, 102 |
#003300 |
|
| 49 |
|
51, 153, 102 |
#339966 |
|
| 50 |
|
0, 51, 0 |
#003300 |
|
| 51 |
|
51, 51, 0 |
#333300 |
|
| 52 |
|
153, 51, 0 |
#993300 |
|
| 53 |
|
153, 51, 102 |
#993366 |
|
| 54 |
|
51, 51, 153 |
#333399 |
|
| 55 |
|
51, 51, 51 |
#333333 |
|
The colors as displayed in Excel
The following is similar to how the palette is displayed in Excel. To find the RGB and HEX equivalents, simply match up the palette index to the chart above.
| Excel Palette / Palette Indexes |
| Standard Colors |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0 |
52 |
51 |
50 |
48 |
10 |
54 |
55 |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 8 |
45 |
11 |
9 |
13 |
4 |
46 |
15 |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
44 |
42 |
49 |
41 |
40 |
12 |
47 |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 6 |
43 |
5 |
3 |
7 |
32 |
53 |
14 |
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 37 |
39 |
35 |
34 |
33 |
36 |
38 |
1 |
| |
| Chart Fills |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 16 |
17 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
| |
| Chart Lines |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
| |
Note: When accessing the palette through VBA, the color indexes are 1-based, not 0-based as they are when using ExcelWriter. Therefore, when using VBA, simply add 1 to the indexes listed above.
Excel version of this information
An Excel file containing similar information about default palette colors is attached to this article. You may find it useful for testing different effects on the palette when changing colors using ExcelWriter.
Related links
ExcelWriter Windows Documentation - The Color Palette In Depth
http://docs.softartisans.com/OfficeWriterWindows/3.5.3/ExcelWriter/features/color_palette.aspx
ExcelWriter Windows Documentation - The Palette Class API Reference
http://docs.softartisans.com/OfficeWriterWindows/3.5.3/ExcelWriter/reference/Palette.aspx |
