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Command-Line Color Specification

Colors can be specified in commands (color, etc.) with:

The command color list lists the available names along with color swatches in the Log. Color names can be truncated, with ambiguous truncations going to the shortest of the matching full names. See also: color schemes, palettes, command usage conventions, limitations of transparency

Color Names

The following color names (X11 colors from the CSS3 specification) are predefined in ChimeraX. Color names can be truncated, but they must be entered in lowercase only. The spaces in multiword names are optional, and “grey” may be substituted for “gray.” More names can be defined with the command color name. See also: Color Actions, the Actions... Color menu

Name Hex RGB
(%)
misty rose #FFE4E1 100,89,88
pink #FFC0CB 100,75,80
light pink #FFB6C1 100,71,76
hot pink #FF69B4 100,41,71
deep pink #FF1493 100,8,58
medium violet red #C71585 78,8,52
pale violet red #DB7093 86,44,58
light coral #F08080 94,50,50
salmon #FA8072 98,50,45
light salmon #FFA07A 100,63,48
dark salmon #E9967A 91,59,48
indian red #CD5C5C 80,36,36
crimson #DC143C 86,8,24
firebrick #B22222 70,13,13
brown #A52A2A 65,17,17
dark red #8B0000 54,0,0
maroon #800000 50,0,0
red #FF0000 100,0,0
orange red #FF4500 100,27,0
tomato #FF6347 100,39,28
coral #FF7F50 100,50,31
dark orange #FF8C00 100,55,0
orange #FFA500 100,65,0
gold #FFD700 100,84,0
yellow #FFFF00 100,100,0
khaki #F0E68C 94,90,55
goldenrod #DAA520 86,65,12
dark goldenrod #B8860B 72,52,4
lemon chiffon #FFFACD 100,98,80
light goldenrod yellow #FAFAD2 98,98,82
light yellow #FFFFE0 100,100,88
cornsilk #FFF8DC 100,97,86
papaya whip #FFEFD5 100,94,84
blanched almond #FFEBCD 100,92,80
peach puff #FFDAB9 100,86,72
bisque #FFE4C4 100,89,77
moccasin #FFE4B5 100,89,71
navajo white #FFDEAD 100,87,68
wheat #F5DEB3 96,87,70
burly wood #DEB887 87,72,53
tan #D2B48C 82,71,55
sandy brown #F4A460 96,64,38
peru #CD853F 80,52,25
chocolate #D2691E 82,41,12
saddle brown #8B4513 54,27,8
sienna #A0522D 63,32,18
rosy brown #BC8F8F 74,56,56
Name Hex RGB
(%)
beige #F5F5DC 96,96,86
pale goldenrod #EEE8AA 93,91,67
dark khaki #BDB76B 74,72,42
dark olive green #556B2F 33,42,18
olive #808000 50,50,0
olive drab #6B8E23 42,56,14
yellow green #9ACD32 60,80,20
green yellow #ADFF2F 68,100,18
chartreuse #7FFF00 50,100,0
lawn green #7CFC00 49,99,0
lime #00FF00 0,100,0
lime green #32CD32 20,80,20
forest green #228B22 13,54,13
green #008000 0,50,0
dark green #006400 0,39,0
pale green #98FB98 60,98,60
light green #90EE90 56,93,56
spring green #00FF7F 0,100,50
medium spring green #00FA9A 0,98,60
medium sea green #3CB371 24,70,44
sea green #2E8B57 18,54,34
dark sea green #8FBC8F 56,74,56
medium aquamarine #66CDAA 40,80,67
aquamarine #7FFFD4 50,100,83
turquoise #40E0D0 25,88,82
medium turquoise #48D1CC 28,82,80
light sea green #20B2AA 12,70,67
cyan (aqua) #00FFFF 0,100,100
dark turquoise #00CED1 0,81,82
cadet blue #5F9EA0 34,62,63
dark cyan #008B8B 0,54,54
teal #008080 0,50,50
pale turquoise #AFEEEE 69,93,93
powder blue #B0E0E6 69,88,90
light blue #ADD8E6 68,85,90
light steel blue #B0C4DE 69,77,87
steel blue #4682B4 28,51,71
sky blue #87CEEB 53,81,92
light sky blue #87CEFA 53,81,98
deep sky blue #00BFFF 0,75,100
dodger blue #1E90FF 12,56,100
cornflower blue #6495ED 39,58,93
royal blue #4169E1 26,41,88
blue #0000FF 0,0,100
medium blue #0000CD 0,0,80
dark blue #00008B 0,0,54
navy #000080 0,0,50
Name Hex RGB
(%)
lavender #E6E6FA 90,90,98
thistle #D8BFD8 85,75,85
plum #DDA0DD 87,63,87
violet #EE82EE 93,51,93
orchid #DA70D6 86,44,84
magenta (fuchsia) #FF00FF 100,0,100
dark magenta #8B008B 54,0,54
purple #800080 50,0,50
medium orchid #BA55D3 73,33,83
dark orchid #9932CC 60,20,80
dark violet #9400D3 58,0,83
blue violet #8A2BE2 54,17,89
medium purple #9370DB 58,44,86
rebecca purple #663399 40,20,60
indigo #4B0082 29,0,51
medium slate blue #7B68EE 48,41,93
slate blue #6A5ACD 42,35,80
dark slate blue #483D8B 28,24,54
midnight blue #191970 10,10,44
white #FFFFFF 100,100,100
snow #FFFAFA 100,98,98
mint cream #F5FFFA 96,100,98
honeydew #F0FFF0 94,100,94
azure #F0FFFF 94,100,100
light cyan #E0FFFF 88,100,100
alice blue #F0F8FF 94,97,100
ghost white #F8F8FF 97,97,100
white smoke #F5F5F5 96,96,96
lavender blush #FFF0F5 100,94,96
seashell #FFF5EE 100,96,93
old lace #FDF5E6 99,96,90
floral white #FFFAF0 100,98,94
ivory #FFFFF0 100,100,94
linen #FAF0E6 98,94,90
antique white #FAEBD7 98,92,84
gainsboro #DCDCDC 86,86,86
light gray #D3D3D3 83,83,83
silver #C0C0C0 75,75,75
dark gray #A9A9A9 66,66,66
gray #808080 50,50,50
dim gray #696969 41,41,41
light slate gray #778899 47,53,60
slate gray #708090 44,50,56
dark slate gray #2F4F4F 18,31,31
black #000000 0,0,0

More Examples

The following all specify the same color:

red
#f00
#FF0000FF
100,0,0
100,0,0,100
rgb(255, 0, 0)
rgb(1., 0., 0.)
rgb(100%, 0%, 0%)
rgba(100%, 0%, 0%, 1)
rgba(100%, 0%, 0%, 100%)
hsl(0, 1.0, 0.5)
hsl(0, 100%, 50%)
The following specify the same shade of gray:
gray(128)
gray(50%)

Transparency and Its Limitations

Objects can be made transparent by including transparency (alpha < 100%) in command-line color specifications. In addition, the transparency command or the color command transparency option can be used, as well as the system color-editing dialog (e.g., shown by using menu: Actions... Color... From Editor).

Unfortunately, ChimeraX does not correctly render transparency when there are multiple transparent models, with the exception of multichannel volume data rendered in the image display style.

As in Chimera, ChimeraX does not correctly render the transparency of multiple models because it draws one model at a time and only keeps track of the front-most as drawing occurs. When more than one model is transparent, ChimeraX shows only the frontmost transparent model at each pixel position. Any transparent models that are behind another transparent model will simply be invisible. An alternative to transparency for surfaces is to show them in the mesh style. Since rendering is correct for opaque models behind transparent ones, another possibility is to make only the outermost surface transparent, keeping inner objects opaque.


UCSF Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and Informatics / May 2021