ColorMania for Windows

ColorMania helps you get all the color codes and values for any color you pick from your desktop, a Web page, or anywhere else onscreen. With an option to zoom in, you can be very precise on which color you're choosing, and a set of tools let you easily tweak any color you find and save up to six custom colors in a palette.

Installation goes without issues and the program is ready to go as soon as you open it. ColorMania's interface is compact and packed with sliders, a color palette, and small viewing screen for picking colors. There aren't any onscreen instructions or a Help button and at first we weren't sure how to select colors, but a right-click on the viewing window brought up a menu with a link to a detailed Help file that answered all of our questions. To choose a color from a Web site or other source, you just drag the Color Grabber icon and place it over any color. It's then displayed in the program's viewing screen. The red, green, and blue values are displayed as well as a solid block of the chosen color and, by default, the HTML Hex code. You can change this with a pull-down menu that includes ten other options, including Delphi Hex, CMYK, and Photoshop. From there, you can adjust the RGB values, brightness, hue, and saturation. Once you're happy with the results, there's even a Palette with six slots. Just right-click in one to add your color to a palette and you can save the six colors for later reference. If you're in the middle of a project, you can even copy the color information and paste in anywhere you like.

If you're a Web developer or designer, ColorMania is a solid tool that can help you find and tweak colors until you get the perfect one for your site. It's easy to use and comes free of charge.