colorhash

color-hash

ColorHash is a lightweight Python library for generating deterministic colors from any object.

By calculating a color value based on an object's hash, it ensures consistent results: the same input will always yield the same color. This is particularly useful for UI elements like user avatars or category labels where visual consistency is required.

This module is a port of the original color-hash Javascript library.

Key features:

• Deterministic: Same input always results in the same color.
• Customizable: Influence hue range, lightness, and saturation.
• Zero Dependencies: Lightweight and easy to integrate.
• Compatibility: Supports Python 3.8+ and is tested up to Python 3.15.

Quick Start

>>> from colorhash import ColorHash
>>> c = ColorHash('Hello World')
>>> c.hsl
(131, 0.65, 0.5)
>>> c.rgb
(45, 210, 75)
>>> c.hex
'#2dd24b'

Installation

Its hosted on PyPI.

pip install colorhash

Basic (intended) use

code	hex	color
ColorHash('hey')	#782d86
ColorHash('oh')	#d29d79
ColorHash('boi')	#6ce072

Advanced usage

You can influence every aspect of final color. Default values are following:

ColorHash(
    obj: Any,
    lightness: Sequence[float] = (0.35, 0.5, 0.65),  # picks deterministically one
    saturation: Sequence[float] = (0.35, 0.5, 0.65),  # picks deterministically one
    min_h: Optional[int] = None,  # hue, min 0
    max_h: Optional[int] = None,  # hue, max 360
)

But be careful, setting tight conditions may result in very similar colors. See example tables.

You can fix lightness or saturation to single value(s) by using sequence with 1 element (eg. [0.5]). Providing more values enables wider variety of options for ColorHash to choose from (deterministically).

Note: If you provide a single float instead of a sequence, it will be automatically wrapped in a list for convenience.

code	hex	color
ColorHash('hey', lightness=[0.55])	#b453c6
ColorHash('hey', lightness=[0.75])	#d69fdf
ColorHash('hey', lightness=[0.95])	#f7ecf9
ColorHash('hey', saturation=[0.15])	#8d6c93
ColorHash('hey', saturation=[0.55])	#b139c6
ColorHash('hey', saturation=[0.95])	#d406f9
ColorHash('hey', lightness=[0.95], saturation=[0.95])	#fbe6fe
ColorHash('oh', lightness=[0.95], saturation=[0.95])	#fef0e6
ColorHash('boi', lightness=[0.95], saturation=[0.95])	#e6fee7

You can set hue range or even fix it by setting min_h = max_h. If you set only min_h or max_h, the other will be defaulted to 0 or 360 respectively.

code	hex	color
ColorHash('hey', min_h=150)	#2d5886
ColorHash('hey', min_h=300)	#862d6c
ColorHash('hey', max_h=150)	#866e2d
ColorHash('hey', min_h=150, max_h=360)	#2d5886
ColorHash('hey', min_h=150, max_h=150) # fixed hue	#2d8659

Or you can let ColorHash decide between combination of many lightness and saturation options (mind min_h and max_h are equal in this example).

code	hex	color
ColorHash('stick', min_h=65, max_h=65, saturation=[x/10 for x in range(1, 10)], lightness=[x/10 for x in range(1, 10)])	#869108
ColorHash('with', min_h=65, max_h=65, saturation=[x/10 for x in range(1, 10)], lightness=[x/10 for x in range(1, 10)])	#eef5a3
ColorHash('one', min_h=65, max_h=65, saturation=[x/10 for x in range(1, 10)], lightness=[x/10 for x in range(1, 10)])	#ddeb47

Finally some bad examples. When you set too strict rules, colors may be almost identical.

code	hex	color
ColorHash('lets', lightness=[0.95], saturation=[0.95], min_h=300)	#fee6f8
ColorHash('break', lightness=[0.95], saturation=[0.95], min_h=300)	#fee6fb
ColorHash('it', lightness=[0.95], saturation=[0.95], min_h=300)	#fee6fa
ColorHash('here', min_h=150, max_h=150)	#6ce0a6
ColorHash('goes', min_h=150, max_h=150)	#79d2a6
ColorHash('color', min_h=150, max_h=150)	#6ce0a6

Changelog

• color-hash 2.2.0 (2026-03-12)
  • 🐛 Fixed hue calculation range mapping to correctly use the full spectrum when min_h and max_h are provided
  • ✨ Support up to python3.15 (tested on 3.15.0a6)
• color-hash 2.1.0 (2025-06-17)
  • ✨ Support up to python3.14
  • ✨ Use uv
  • ⚰️ python3.7 is still supported and shall work, but not tested any more
• color-hash 2.0.0 (2023-09-22)
  • ✨ Expose params to influence colors
  • ✨ Runtime validation of input params
  • 📝 Update docs for advanced usage
• color-hash 1.3.2 (2023-09-21)
  • ⚡️ 30%+ speedup on hsl2rgb()
  • ✅ Add tests for all named colors (1500+ tests)
• color-hash 1.3.1 (2023-09-21)
  • 🐛 Handle missing importlib-metadata import
• color-hash 1.3.0 (2023-09-20)
  • 🧑‍💻 Add py.typed to support type annotations (#4)
  • 📦 Changed packaging ecosystem
    • ➖ Remove poetry
    • ➖ Remove tox
    • ➕ Add pip-tools (manage dependencies)
    • ➕ Add hatch (build & test)
    • ➕ Add twine (publish)
  • ✨ Support python3.11
  • ⚰️ Drop support for python3.6 (downloads from PyPI are under 1%)
• color-hash 1.2.2 (2022-10-17)
  • ✨ Add publish helper script
• color-hash 1.2.1 (2022-10-17)
  • 📝 Update docs
• color-hash 1.2.0 (2022-10-17)
  • 🧑‍💻 Use typing supporting python3.6
• color-hash 1.1.0 (2022-09-01)
  • ✅ Add tests
  • 🚸 Add installation instructions
• color-hash 1.0.4 (2021-11-30)
  • Support only for python3.6+
  • ✅ Add tests
• color-hash 1.0.3 (2020-12-04)
  • ⚰️ Drop support for python2.x
  • 🎉 Handover of project maintenance
• color-hash 1.0.2 (2016-07-08)
  • ✨ Add crc32_hash function and set default hashfunc to that. It's not fully backwards-compatible, but I don't want to bump the version a lot for not doing my research.
• color-hash 1.0.0 (2016-07-07)
  • 🎉 Initial port.

License

Copyright (c) 2016 Felix Krull [e-mail]

This is a port of the 'color-hash' Javascript library which is:

Copyright (c) 2015 Zeno Zeng

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.