Colorlover: Color Scales for Python

0.3.0 · maintenance · verified Thu Apr 16

Colorlover is a Python library providing a collection of qualitative, sequential, and diverging color scales, originally designed for use with IPython notebooks. It offers utilities for converting between RGB and HSL color formats, generating numeric representations, and outputting scales as HTML. The library's current version is 0.3.0, released in January 2019, and it appears to be in a maintenance state with no recent active development.

Common errors

```
ImportError: No module named 'colorlover'
```
cause The `colorlover` package is not installed or the Python environment where it was installed is not the one being used.

fix Ensure the package is installed in your active environment: `pip install colorlover`.
```
AttributeError: module 'colorlover' has no attribute 'some_api_method'
```
cause This error often occurs when users confuse `colorlover` (static scales) with `python-colourlovers` (COLOURlovers API client) and attempt to call methods like `cl.palettes()` or `cl.colors()` to fetch data from the internet.

fix The `colorlover` library provides color scales through `cl.scales` directly, e.g., `cl.scales['3']['div']['RdYlBu']`. It does not make API calls. If you need to interact with the COLOURlovers API, you need a different library or custom API calls.

Warnings

gotcha The `colorlover` library has not seen significant updates since its 0.3.0 release in January 2019. While it remains functional for its core purpose, users should be aware of its age and potential lack of support for newer Python features or modern ecosystem integrations.
Fix: Consider its static nature when integrating into new projects. For actively maintained and more comprehensive color handling, explore alternatives like `matplotlib.colors`, `seaborn` palettes, or `colormath`.
gotcha The project's description mentions 'IPython notebook', a term largely superseded by 'Jupyter notebook' and 'JupyterLab'. This indicates the library's historical context and might not align with current best practices in the broader Python data science ecosystem.
Fix: Functionality remains largely compatible with modern Jupyter environments, but the terminology reflects the library's older development period.
gotcha Users often confuse `colorlover` with `python-colourlovers` (or `colourlovers`), a different library that acts as a client for the `COLOURlovers.com` API. `colorlover` (this library) provides static, built-in color scales and *does not* interact with the `COLOURlovers.com` API.
Fix: Ensure you are using the correct library for your needs. If you require programmatic access to the `COLOURlovers.com` database, `python-colourlovers` (if still maintained) or direct API calls are necessary. For pre-defined color scales, `colorlover` is appropriate.

Install

pip install colorlover Install stable release

Imports

cl
```
import colorlover as cl
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to import `colorlover`, access a predefined color scale, and convert it between different color representations (RGB string, numeric RGB, HSL string).

import colorlover as cl

# Access a diverging color scale with 3 colors
scale_rgb_str = cl.scales['3']['div']['RdYlBu']
print(f"RGB string scale: {scale_rgb_str}")

# Convert to numeric RGB tuples
scale_numeric_rgb = cl.to_numeric(scale_rgb_str)
print(f"Numeric RGB scale: {scale_numeric_rgb}")

# Convert to HSL strings
scale_hsl_str = cl.to_hsl(scale_rgb_str)
print(f"HSL string scale: {scale_hsl_str}")

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