RGB to HSL Converter

About this calculator

To convert RGB to HSL, each channel is first normalized to a 0–1 range; lightness is L = (max + min) ÷ 2, saturation depends on how far the max and min channels are apart relative to L, and hue is derived from which channel (red, green, or blue) is largest and by how much, expressed as an angle from 0° to 360° around the color wheel.

Unlike RGB, where changing a color's brightness means adjusting all three channels together, HSL separates hue, saturation, and lightness into independent values, making it far easier to reason about — for example, lightening a color is just increasing L while keeping hue and saturation fixed. Web and UI designers use HSL (and this converter) in CSS to build consistent color palettes and hover/active-state variants from a base brand color.