Many of my watch faces have an option to use "color codes" to customize the color of some (or all of the) elements of the face. The color codes are standard hexadecimal color numbers, but they may seem too cryptic for some people that do not have a programming or IT background. So in this short post, I will explain what they mean and how can you use them (TLDR: at the end of the post are links to some interactive tools that you can use to find a hexadecimal code of a particular color).
What is the hexadecimal color code?
Any color can be obtained by mixing three base colors - Red, Green, and Blue depending on how much amount (intensity) of the base colors we would use. The hexadecimal code is a 6-symbol code that can be divided into three 2-symbol values. For example, hexadecimal color code FF35A8 can be divided into codes FF, 35, and A8, representing intensities of Red, Green, and Blue color contained in this color. But why are we seeing letters and numbers in these codes?
The short answer is "because computers", the long one is because the numbers are stored as a group of bits. In this case, for each color 8 bits are allocated, which means that the intensity of each color ranges from 0 - 255 (8 bits = 256). So instead of writing the code in binary using ones and zeroes (that number would have 24 digits!), we write it in 16 - base numbering system. Therefore we need additional 5 symbols to represent values 10 (A), 11 (B), 12 (C), 13 (D), 14(E) and 15 (F).
If you want to experiment with codes without additional tools, just keep in mind that you should think about the color code as a group of three numbers rather than a single number. Also, remember that 00 is the minimum intensity, FF is the maximum, and 80 is somewhere in between. From there you can experiment, for example, to make light blue-ish green, put Red low (33), Green all the way up (FF) and blue somewhere high (AA) -> 33FFAA.
Why am I not providing a color picker for color customization?
Garmin does not provide this option in the settings. I could do this using an auxiliary iOS or android app, but I will leave this for another less busy time.
Where can I find the color codes?
If you are used to working with image/photo editors (Photoshop, GIMP...), you should be familiar with the color selection tool. By selecting a color, the tool shows its red, green, and blue values as well as the hexadecimal color code, so you can copy the code from there.
Otherwise, you can use some online color-picking tools such as https://htmlcolorcodes.com
For 64-color devices (Fenix 5, 6, 7, Forerunner series...) there are not as many options as for devices with AMOLED display. If you provide a color code that is "in-between" the colors that the watch can display, it will be rounded to the closest color. I would recommend picking a color from the following table:
