Color Python output given #RRGGBB hex value

Question

I've got a color from user in #RRGGBB hex format (#D3D3D3 is light grey) and I'd like to color some output with it. I imagine I write print("some text", color="#0000FF") and get blue colored output. Is it possible (ideally without 3rd party software)?

Answer 1

You can use the following escape sequences on a true-color aware terminal:

• ESC[ … 38;2;<r>;<g>;<b> … m Select RGB foreground color
• ESC[ … 48;2;<r>;<g>;<b> … m Select RGB background color

Thus you can write a function:

RESET = '\033[0m'
def get_color_escape(r, g, b, background=False):
    return '\033[{};2;{};{};{}m'.format(48 if background else 38, r, g, b)

and use this like:

print(get_color_escape(255, 128, 0) 
      + get_color_escape(80, 30, 60, True)
      + 'Fancy colors!' 
      + RESET)

You can get doubled horizontal or vertical resolution by using for example ▀ and both background and foreground colour.