Calculate a color fade

Question

Given two colors and n steps, how can one calculate n colors including the two given colors that create a fade effect?

If possible pseudo-code is preferred but this will probably be implemented in Java.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Divide each colour into its RGB components and then calculate the individual steps required.

oldRed = 120;
newRed = 200;
steps = 10;
redStepAmount = (newRed - oldRed) / steps;

currentRed = oldRed;
for (i = 0; i < steps; i++) {
   currentRed += redStepAmount;
}

Obviously extend that for green and blue.

Answer 2

There are two good related questions you should also review:

• Generating gradients programatically?
• Conditional formatting — percentage to color conversion

Please note that you're often better off doing this in the HSV color space rather than RGB - it generates more pleasing colors to the human eye (lower chance of clashing or negative optical properties).

Good luck!

-Adam