# .getHexString()

Log a color or hand it to a design tool as an sRGB hex string, with alpha when it's translucent.

Log a color or hand it to a design tool as hex with `getHexString()`. It takes nothing and returns six uppercase digits with no `#`, or eight with alpha last when the color is translucent:

```swift
let brandColor = Color(hex: "#00B386")

brandColor.getHexString()                 // "00B386"
brandColor.opacity(0.5).getHexString()    // "00B38680", alpha last
```

## A stop beyond sRGB

Hex can only hold sRGB colors, so `getHexString()` clamps each channel of a Display P3 color into sRGB. The hex is a close sRGB color, not the stop itself:

```swift
let fill = brand._600                 // a stop of the travel app's brand, beyond sRGB
fill.toRGB()                          // RGBColor(r: -0.178, g: 0.527, b: 0.372)
fill.toColor().getHexString()         // "00865F", with red clamped to 0
```

To pass such a color on without losing it, keep its name or its [`toRGB()`](https://colortokenskit.com/api/to-rgb/index.md) value, not its hex. This wiki labels palette colors with Display P3 hex, the way an iPhone shows them, so its labels don't match `getHexString()` even inside sRGB.

## Round trips through hex

`Color(hex: color.getHexString())` gives back the same color only when the color is opaque and inside sRGB. [`Color(hex:)`](https://colortokenskit.com/api/color-hex/index.md) reads alpha first and `getHexString()` writes it last, so for a translucent color, move the last two digits to the front before reading it back.

## Tokens

A token has two values, and `getHexString()` reads one: on iOS 17, macOS 14 and later, the light-mode value. To log a token's dark-mode color, find the stop it uses in dark mode in [understanding semantic tokens](https://colortokenskit.com/getting-started/semantic-tokens/index.md) and convert that stop.

## How it behaves

Each channel is clamped to 0 to 1 and rounded to the nearest of 256 steps. Alpha is added only when it isn't 1.

## API

```swift
public extension Color {
    func getHexString() -> String   // "00B386", or "00B38680" with alpha last when translucent
}
```

It takes no parameters and returns an sRGB hex string: six uppercase digits with no `#`, or eight when the color isn't opaque.

## Sources

- [Color+Strings.swift](https://github.com/metasidd/ColorTokensKit-Swift/blob/main/Sources/ColorTokensKit/Platform/SwiftUI/Color+Strings.swift), which defines `getHexString()` and clamps into sRGB.

## See also

- [Color(hex:)](https://colortokenskit.com/api/color-hex/index.md): Turn a hex value from your design file into a SwiftUI color, with or without transparency.
- [.toRGB()](https://colortokenskit.com/api/to-rgb/index.md): Read a color's red, green and blue channels, even past sRGB, to hand to other graphics code.
- [.getLCHString()](https://colortokenskit.com/api/get-lch-string/index.md): Log a color's lightness, chroma and hue in one short line, to check a color at a glance.
- [Fitting colors into Display P3](https://colortokenskit.com/under-the-hood/gamut-mapping/index.md): Stay inside Display P3 without losing contrast: chroma drops, lightness holds.

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From ColorTokensKit, by Penguin Design Ventures: https://colortokenskit.com/api/get-hex-string/ (updated September 26, 2026).