Frost Color

Frost Color is a dependency-free JavaScript library for parsing, converting, inspecting, and formatting colors. It supports modern CSS color spaces as well as linear-light working spaces, preserves out-of-gamut channel values during conversion, and provides explicit gamut fitting when a bounded output is required.

Highlights

• Default ESM Color export and named concrete-class exports for Node and bundlers
• Prebuilt ESM and UMD bundles in dist/, with UMD exposed as globalThis.Color
• No runtime dependencies
• Immutable color instances and transformations
• Modern CSS color parsing, formatting, and named colors
• Conversion across bounded, wide-gamut, perceptual, and linear-light spaces
• Explicit gamut fitting without clipping intermediate conversions

Installation

Node / bundlers

npm i @fr0st/color

Frost Color's package entry point is ESM-only. Use import syntax in Node and bundlers.

import Color, { DisplayP3 } from '@fr0st/color';

Browser (ESM)

Import the minified ESM bundle directly from a CDN:

<script type="module">
    import Color, { DisplayP3 } from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@fr0st/color@latest/dist/frost-color.esm.min.js';

    const color = Color.fromString('lavender');
    const displayP3 = DisplayP3.fromString('lavender');
</script>

Browser (UMD)

Load the bundle from your own copy or a CDN:

<script src="/path/to/dist/frost-color.min.js"></script>
<!-- or -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@fr0st/color@latest/dist/frost-color.min.js"></script>
<script>
    const color = globalThis.Color.fromString('oklch(0.7 0.15 250)');
</script>

The package root resolves to the prebuilt ESM bundle. Bundles under dist/ and the source entry src/index.js are also available through matching package subpaths.

Quick Start

import Color from '@fr0st/color';

const source = Color.fromString('color(display-p3 1 0.2 0.1 / 80%)');
const srgb = source.fitGamut('srgb').toSrgb();
const translucent = srgb.withAlpha(0.5);

console.log(source.space());        // display-p3
console.log(srgb.toString());        // color(srgb 1 0.28 0.2 / 0.8)
console.log(translucent.getAlpha()); // 0.5
console.log(source.getAlpha());     // 0.8; source was not changed

Color instances are immutable and frozen. Conversion and with... methods do not mutate their source; they return either a new instance or, when no conversion is needed, the same instance. Channel fields remain readable, but use the provided getters and with... methods instead of assigning them.

Creating colors

Parse a color string

Color.fromString(value) accepts the following forms:

• CSS named colors and transparent
• Hex colors: #rgb, #rgba, #rrggbb, and #rrggbbaa
• rgb() and legacy rgba()
• hsl() and legacy hsla()
• hwb(), lab(), lch(), oklab(), and oklch()
• color() using a98-rgb, display-p3, display-p3-linear, prophoto-rgb, rec2020, srgb, srgb-linear, xyz, xyz-d50, or xyz-d65

Whitespace is normalized and parsing is case-insensitive. Functional notation requires exactly three channels and accepts one optional alpha value. Space-separated alpha uses /; legacy comma syntax is supported for RGB, HSL, and HWB, but separator styles cannot be mixed. Numeric tokens support signs, decimals, percentages, and scientific notation, and must not contain trailing characters or unknown units.

const hex = Color.fromString('#663399cc');
const hsl = Color.fromString('hsl(270deg 50% 40% / 80%)');
const p3 = Color.fromString('color(display-p3 90% 20% 10%)');
const lab = Color.fromString('lab(60% 30 -20)');

This is a focused color-value parser, not a complete CSS value engine. CSS-wide keywords, currentcolor, none components, var(), calc(), relative colors, and custom color profiles are outside its scope.

Factories and concrete classes

Concrete classes are available both as named exports and as static properties on the default export. Each numeric from... factory accepts three channels, each defaulting to 0, followed by optional alpha = 1.

Factory or constructor	Concrete class	space() identifier	Channels	Native toString() form
fromA98Rgb(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.A98Rgb	a98-rgb	normalized red, green, blue	color(a98-rgb ...)
fromDisplayP3(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.DisplayP3	display-p3	normalized red, green, blue	color(display-p3 ...)
fromDisplayP3Linear(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.DisplayP3Linear	display-p3-linear	linear red, green, blue	color(display-p3-linear ...)
new Color.Hex(r, g, b, alpha) or fromString(...)	Color.Hex	hex	red, green, blue on a 0–255 scale	#rgb, #rgba, #rrggbb, or #rrggbbaa
fromHsl(h, s, l, alpha)	Color.Hsl	hsl	hue in degrees, saturation and lightness in percent	hsl(...)
fromHwb(h, w, b, alpha)	Color.Hwb	hwb	hue in degrees, whiteness and blackness in percent	hwb(...)
fromLab(l, a, b, alpha)	Color.Lab	lab	lightness on a 0–100 scale, a, b	lab(...)
fromLch(l, c, h, alpha)	Color.Lch	lch	lightness on a 0–100 scale, chroma, hue in degrees	lch(...)
fromOkLab(l, a, b, alpha)	Color.OkLab	oklab	lightness on a 0–1 scale, a, b	oklab(...)
fromOkLch(l, c, h, alpha)	Color.OkLch	oklch	lightness on a 0–1 scale, chroma, hue in degrees	oklch(...)
fromProPhotoRgb(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.ProPhotoRgb	prophoto-rgb	normalized red, green, blue	color(prophoto-rgb ...)
fromRec2020(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.Rec2020	rec2020	normalized red, green, blue	color(rec2020 ...)
fromRgb(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.Rgb	rgb	red, green, blue on a 0–255 scale	rgb(...)
fromSrgb(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.Srgb	srgb	normalized red, green, blue	color(srgb ...)
fromSrgbLinear(r, g, b, alpha)	Color.SrgbLinear	srgb-linear	linear red, green, blue	color(srgb-linear ...)
fromXyzD50(x, y, z, alpha)	Color.XyzD50	xyz-d50	D50-relative x, y, z	color(xyz-d50 ...)
fromXyzD65(x, y, z, alpha)	Color.XyzD65	xyz-d65	D65-relative x, y, z	color(xyz-d65 ...)

Factories on Color return the corresponding source-space class. The same inherited factories can construct directly in a chosen destination space:

const okLch = Color.fromOkLch(0.7, 0.15, 250);
const lab = Color.Lab.fromOkLch(0.7, 0.15, 250);

console.log(okLch instanceof Color.OkLch); // true
console.log(lab instanceof Color.Lab);     // true

All channel inputs must be finite numbers. Alpha is clamped to 0–1 and hue is wrapped into 0–360 degrees. Other constructor channels deliberately retain finite extended values rather than being silently clipped, which allows out-of-gamut intermediate results.

Constructors and numeric factories retain negative chroma. Parsing lch() and oklch() strings clamps negative chroma to zero.

Converting colors

Use to(space) with any space() identifier from the table, or call a named conversion method. The xyz alias is accepted while parsing color(...), but conversion uses the canonical xyz-d65 identifier:

const color = Color.fromString('#663399');

const lab = color.to('lab');
const p3 = color.toDisplayP3();
const rgb = color.toRgb();

The complete named conversion API is:

• toA98Rgb()
• toDisplayP3()
• toDisplayP3Linear()
• toHex()
• toHsl()
• toHwb()
• toLab()
• toLch()
• toOkLab()
• toOkLch()
• toProPhotoRgb()
• toRec2020()
• toRgb()
• toSrgb()
• toSrgbLinear()
• toXyzD50()
• toXyzD65()

Alpha is preserved through conversions. Converting to the instance's existing space returns that same instance; other conversions return a new concrete instance.

When converting to HSL, colors whose computed HSL lightness is exactly 0% or 100% use zero hue and saturation. Extended colors at those boundaries therefore become black or white and cannot round-trip through HSL without losing their original channels.

Alpha compositing

Use foreground.composite(background) to composite a color over a background using source-over alpha compositing in sRGB. The result uses the foreground color's concrete class:

const foreground = Color.fromString('rgb(255 255 255 / 50%)');
const background = Color.fromString('#000');
const result = foreground.composite(background);

Gamut fitting

Conversions do not automatically fit colors to the target gamut. Use fitGamut(target = 'srgb') when output must fit a bounded RGB gamut:

const vivid = Color.fromOkLch(0.72, 0.4, 30);
const displayable = vivid.fitGamut('srgb').toSrgb();

Gamut fitting returns the original instance if it already fits the target gamut. Otherwise, it maps through OKLCH and uses a precision-bounded binary search to reduce chroma magnitude, preserving its sign, until the converted channels fall within the target range. Colors at or beyond the OKLCH lightness boundaries are fitted to black or white. Otherwise, it preserves OKLCH lightness. The result retains alpha and uses the source instance's color space. Supported targets are:

• a98-rgb
• display-p3
• display-p3-linear
• prophoto-rgb
• rec2020
• rgb
• srgb
• srgb-linear

Inspecting and comparing colors

Every concrete color supports these methods:

Method	Result
getAlpha()	Alpha in the 0–1 range
space()	The current color-space identifier
toObject()	A new object containing the three channels and alpha
composite(background)	Source-over alpha composite calculated in sRGB
luma()	Relative sRGB luminance
contrast(other)	Ratio calculated from the relative luminance of two fully opaque colors
label()	The nearest CSS named color by Euclidean channel distance in the current color space

contrast() requires both colors to be fully opaque. luma() ignores alpha. Extended out-of-range channels are not clamped before either calculation.

Reading and replacing channels

Channel-specific getters and copy methods depend on the concrete class:

Class family	Getters	Copy methods
A98 RGB, Display P3, Display P3 Linear, Hex, ProPhoto RGB, Rec. 2020, RGB, sRGB, linear sRGB	getRed(), getGreen(), getBlue()	withRed(), withGreen(), withBlue()
Lab and OKLab	getLightness(), getA(), getB()	withLightness(), withA(), withB()
LCH and OKLCH	getLightness(), getChroma(), getHue()	withLightness(), withChroma(), withHue()
HSL	getHue(), getSaturation(), getLightness()	withHue(), withSaturation(), withLightness()
HWB	getHue(), getWhiteness(), getBlackness()	withHue(), withWhiteness(), withBlackness()
XYZ D50 and XYZ D65	getX(), getY(), getZ()	withX(), withY(), withZ()

All classes also provide withAlpha(alpha):

const original = Color.fromRgb(102, 51, 153);
const changed = original.withRed(120).withAlpha(0.5);

console.log(original.toString()); // rgb(102 51 153)
console.log(changed.toString());  // rgb(120 51 153 / 50%)

Formatting

toString(alpha = null, precision = 2, ...options) emits the native form listed in the spaces table. With alpha = null, alpha is included automatically only when it is below 1. Pass true to force it or false to omit it.

const color = Color.fromRgb(102.1234, 51, 153, 0.8);

color.toString();         // rgb(102.12 51 153 / 80%)
color.toString(false, 0); // rgb(102 51 153)
color.toHex().toString(); // #639c

Additional formatting methods and options are:

• Rgb#getHex(alpha = false, shortenHex = true) returns hex digits without #. Hex output rounds and clamps RGB channels to 0–255 and encodes alpha as a rounded 0–255 byte when included.
• Rgb#toString(alpha = null, precision = 2, name = false) can prefer an exact CSS color name. Name matching requires the original RGB channels to be integers within 0–255.
• Hex#toString(alpha = null, precision = 2, shortenHex = true, name = false) can shorten hex and prefer a CSS color name matching the rounded, clamped RGB bytes. Its precision argument is accepted for a consistent signature but is unused.
• toColorString(alpha = null, precision = 2) is the shared low-level serializer used by spaces whose native representation is color(...).

When name = true, a matching opaque keyword can be returned even with alpha = true. transparent is used only when alpha is included and equals zero. Passing alpha = false omits transparency even when names are preferred:

const transparentRed = Color.fromRgb(255, 0, 0, 0);

transparentRed.toString(null, 2, true);  // transparent
transparentRed.toString(false, 2, true); // red

Errors

Frost Color throws TypeError when:

• a color string is malformed or unsupported;
• a channel is not a finite number;
• contrast is requested with a translucent color;
• an unknown conversion space is requested;
• gamut fitting is requested for an unsupported space;
• the abstract Color class is constructed directly.

Development

npm test
npm run lint
npm run build

License

Frost Color is released under the MIT License.