White, off-white and ivory side by side
Next to each other the difference is obvious; alone, most people would call all of these “white”. The near-whites below differ from #FFFFFF by only a few percent in one or two channels, which is enough to make a page feel warm, cool or simply less glaring.
| Name | HEX | Tint |
|---|---|---|
| Snow (CSS) | #FFFAFA | Faintly pink |
| Ghost white (CSS) | #F8F8FF | Faintly blue, reads as cool and clean |
| White smoke (CSS) | #F5F5F5 | Neutral light grey, no tint at all |
| Ivory (CSS) | #FFFFF0 | A touch of yellow |
| Off White | #FFFFE4 | More yellow than ivory; from the colour-name list |
There are separate pages for off-white and ivory, including which works better as a website background.
When plain white is the right choice
- Images and product photos. Photos shot on white look grubby on an off-white page because the two whites don't match.
- Forms and data tables. Inputs on a white card inside a light grey page help people see where to type.
- Anything that will be printed. Paper is the white; a screen tint will either vanish or print as a faint wash.
White text: what it needs behind it
Against white, black scores the maximum 21:1. Going the other way, white text needs a background with at least 4.5:1 for normal body sizes. That rules out more colours than people expect: pure red (4.00:1), orange, most yellows and nearly all pastels. The contrast checker will suggest a darker version of your background if the pair fails.
White in CMYK
White converts to 0% of every ink, because ordinary four-colour printing has no white ink. Whatever paper you print on becomes your white, so cream stock makes every white area cream. White ink is a special extra (used on clear labels and dark card), and you have to ask for it.
Questions
Is #FFF the same as #FFFFFF?
Yes, the three-digit form is shorthand for the six-digit one.
What is the RGB value of white?
rgb(255, 255, 255); in HSL, hsl(0, 0%, 100%).