Mac OS X DigitalColor Meter Utility

Mac OS X includes a free utility called the DigitalColor Meter. This little tool can be a big help when doing design or Web work. The DigitalColor Meter can measure the color of any pixel on your screen and translate the color value into standards like RPG, YPbPr, CIE or Tristimulus.

Even those who only dabble in Web colors and design will appreciate this simple utility. Have you ever wished to know the RGB values of a specific color you’ve seen on a website?

Go to Applications → Utilities and open the DigitalColor Meter utility. Next, choose a color standard from the pop-up menu. If you want RGB values for Web colors, set the color standard to RGB AS HEX Value, 8-bit.

To copy the displayed color value to the clipboard, hover the mouse cursor over the color you want to measure and press Shift+Command+C.

DigitalColor Meter will allow you to hone in on a single individual pixel if you move the Aperture Size slider all the way to the left. The attached image shows the 16×16 pixel Mactoids.com favicon as an example — with a single white pixel selected in the center.

digitalcolor meter keyboard shortcuts

Lock Position (Command+L)
Lock X (Command+X)
Lock Y (Command+Y)

Copy Image (Command+C)
Save as TIFF (Command+S)

Hold Color (Shift+Command+H)
Copy Color As Text (Shift+Command+C)
Copy Color As Image (Option+Command+C)