What does color temperature in Kelvin mean?

It describes the color of light emitted by a theoretical black-body radiator heated to that temperature. Low Kelvin values (1000-3000K) look warm/orange like candlelight or incandescent bulbs; high values (6500K+) look cool/blue like an overcast sky or shade.

How is Kelvin converted to RGB here?

This tool uses Tanner Helland's widely used polynomial approximation of the black-body (Planckian locus) curve, which is accurate enough for lighting, rendering, and design work without needing full spectral calculations.

Why does daylight look almost white, not yellow or blue?

Daylight around 5500-6500K sits near the middle of the visible range this tool covers, so its RGB value is close to neutral white — that's also why camera and monitor "white balance" settings are labeled in Kelvin.

What's this useful for?

Matching a CSS or design color to a specific light source, picking warm/cool lighting for 3D renders, choosing camera white balance presets, or converting between Kelvin values used in lighting/photography specs and hex codes used in design tools.

Is anything sent to a server?

No — the conversion is a pure math formula that runs locally in your browser.

COLOR TEMPERATURE CONVERTER

Turn a Kelvin value into its RGB/HEX color, from candlelight to blue sky. Runs entirely in your browser.

5,500K

Color temperature: 5,500K

1000K warm40000K cool

HEX

#ffedde

RGB

rgb(255, 237, 222)

Common light sources

How to convert Kelvin to a color

1
Drag the Kelvin slider, or click a preset light source, to set a color temperature.
2
Watch the swatch update to the corresponding black-body color.
3
Copy the HEX or RGB value to use as a lighting gel, render, or CSS color.

Questions

What does color temperature in Kelvin mean?: It describes the color of light emitted by a theoretical black-body radiator heated to that temperature. Low Kelvin values (1000-3000K) look warm/orange like candlelight or incandescent bulbs; high values (6500K+) look cool/blue like an overcast sky or shade.
How is Kelvin converted to RGB here?: This tool uses Tanner Helland's widely used polynomial approximation of the black-body (Planckian locus) curve, which is accurate enough for lighting, rendering, and design work without needing full spectral calculations.
Why does daylight look almost white, not yellow or blue?: Daylight around 5500-6500K sits near the middle of the visible range this tool covers, so its RGB value is close to neutral white — that's also why camera and monitor "white balance" settings are labeled in Kelvin.
What's this useful for?: Matching a CSS or design color to a specific light source, picking warm/cool lighting for 3D renders, choosing camera white balance presets, or converting between Kelvin values used in lighting/photography specs and hex codes used in design tools.
Is anything sent to a server?: No — the conversion is a pure math formula that runs locally in your browser.