color gradient table generator

At first, I was using the hexagonal color-cube in WORD to create gradients, but that didn't have the resolution nor flexibility that I wanted. This PHP app takes 3 input parameters: beginning color, ending color, and the number of steps requested and interpolates between them. Step 0 is always the beginning color, and step n is the ending color.

theory of operation

The beginning and ending colors are captured from the GET request to the server. After range checking of the colors and the number of steps requested, a loop is run and the RGB components are linearly interpolated according to the current step of the loop. The color generated is used as the background of the table row.

The color values are provided on each row in both decimal and hexadecimal. The ordering for the values in black text are: index number, percentage of interpolation, decimal value of the background color, hexadecimal value of the background color. The ordering of the white text is a mirror of the ordering of the black text. Obviously, the black and white provide enough redundancy so that at least one set of values is readable (having high enough contrast with the background to be read) no matter what begin and end colors are chosen.

Source code for the color gradient generator may be found here. It's a PHP file, but it has a .txt final extension to make it easier to download from the web server. A final caveat: the html, head, and body tags are not included in this file. The file was meant to be included into a host document. In fact, this document hosts the source file directly with a PHP include.

usage

Provide values for color begin, color end, and number of steps, and click on the 'generate color gradient' button.

variable:	number type	minimum	maximum	value
color begin:	hex	0x000000	0xFFFFFF
color end:	hex	0x000000	0xFFFFFF
number of steps:	dec	1	255

values are: (color begin: 0xFF0000), (color end: 0xFFFFFF), (number of steps: 255)

0	0%	16711680	FF0000	FF0000	16711680	0%	0
1	0%	16711937	FF0101	FF0101	16711937	0%	1
2	0%	16712194	FF0202	FF0202	16712194	0%	2
3	1%	16712451	FF0303	FF0303	16712451	1%	3
4	1%	16712708	FF0404	FF0404	16712708	1%	4
5	1%	16712965	FF0505	FF0505	16712965	1%	5
6	2%	16713222	FF0606	FF0606	16713222	2%	6
7	2%	16713479	FF0707	FF0707	16713479	2%	7
8	3%	16713736	FF0808	FF0808	16713736	3%	8
9	3%	16713993	FF0909	FF0909	16713993	3%	9
10	3%	16714250	FF0A0A	FF0A0A	16714250	3%	10
11	4%	16714507	FF0B0B	FF0B0B	16714507	4%	11
12	4%	16714764	FF0C0C	FF0C0C	16714764	4%	12
13	5%	16715021	FF0D0D	FF0D0D	16715021	5%	13
14	5%	16715278	FF0E0E	FF0E0E	16715278	5%	14
15	5%	16715535	FF0F0F	FF0F0F	16715535	5%	15
16	6%	16715792	FF1010	FF1010	16715792	6%	16
17	6%	16716049	FF1111	FF1111	16716049	6%	17
18	7%	16716306	FF1212	FF1212	16716306	7%	18
19	7%	16716563	FF1313	FF1313	16716563	7%	19
20	7%	16716820	FF1414	FF1414	16716820	7%	20
21	8%	16717077	FF1515	FF1515	16717077	8%	21
22	8%	16717334	FF1616	FF1616	16717334	8%	22
23	9%	16717591	FF1717	FF1717	16717591	9%	23
24	9%	16717848	FF1818	FF1818	16717848	9%	24
25	9%	16718105	FF1919	FF1919	16718105	9%	25
26	10%	16718362	FF1A1A	FF1A1A	16718362	10%	26
27	10%	16718619	FF1B1B	FF1B1B	16718619	10%	27
28	10%	16718876	FF1C1C	FF1C1C	16718876	10%	28
29	11%	16719133	FF1D1D	FF1D1D	16719133	11%	29
30	11%	16719390	FF1E1E	FF1E1E	16719390	11%	30
31	12%	16719647	FF1F1F	FF1F1F	16719647	12%	31
32	12%	16719904	FF2020	FF2020	16719904	12%	32
33	12%	16720161	FF2121	FF2121	16720161	12%	33
34	13%	16720418	FF2222	FF2222	16720418	13%	34
35	13%	16720675	FF2323	FF2323	16720675	13%	35
36	14%	16720932	FF2424	FF2424	16720932	14%	36
37	14%	16721189	FF2525	FF2525	16721189	14%	37
38	14%	16721446	FF2626	FF2626	16721446	14%	38
39	15%	16721703	FF2727	FF2727	16721703	15%	39
40	15%	16721960	FF2828	FF2828	16721960	15%	40
41	16%	16722217	FF2929	FF2929	16722217	16%	41
42	16%	16722474	FF2A2A	FF2A2A	16722474	16%	42
43	16%	16722731	FF2B2B	FF2B2B	16722731	16%	43
44	17%	16722988	FF2C2C	FF2C2C	16722988	17%	44
45	17%	16723245	FF2D2D	FF2D2D	16723245	17%	45
46	18%	16723502	FF2E2E	FF2E2E	16723502	18%	46
47	18%	16723759	FF2F2F	FF2F2F	16723759	18%	47
48	18%	16724016	FF3030	FF3030	16724016	18%	48
49	19%	16724273	FF3131	FF3131	16724273	19%	49
50	19%	16724530	FF3232	FF3232	16724530	19%	50
51	20%	16724787	FF3333	FF3333	16724787	20%	51
52	20%	16725044	FF3434	FF3434	16725044	20%	52
53	20%	16725301	FF3535	FF3535	16725301	20%	53
54	21%	16725558	FF3636	FF3636	16725558	21%	54
55	21%	16725815	FF3737	FF3737	16725815	21%	55
56	21%	16726072	FF3838	FF3838	16726072	21%	56
57	22%	16726329	FF3939	FF3939	16726329	22%	57
58	22%	16726586	FF3A3A	FF3A3A	16726586	22%	58
59	23%	16726843	FF3B3B	FF3B3B	16726843	23%	59
60	23%	16727100	FF3C3C	FF3C3C	16727100	23%	60
61	23%	16727357	FF3D3D	FF3D3D	16727357	23%	61
62	24%	16727614	FF3E3E	FF3E3E	16727614	24%	62
63	24%	16727871	FF3F3F	FF3F3F	16727871	24%	63
64	25%	16728128	FF4040	FF4040	16728128	25%	64
65	25%	16728385	FF4141	FF4141	16728385	25%	65
66	25%	16728642	FF4242	FF4242	16728642	25%	66
67	26%	16728899	FF4343	FF4343	16728899	26%	67
68	26%	16729156	FF4444	FF4444	16729156	26%	68
69	27%	16729413	FF4545	FF4545	16729413	27%	69
70	27%	16729670	FF4646	FF4646	16729670	27%	70
71	27%	16729927	FF4747	FF4747	16729927	27%	71
72	28%	16730184	FF4848	FF4848	16730184	28%	72
73	28%	16730441	FF4949	FF4949	16730441	28%	73
74	29%	16730698	FF4A4A	FF4A4A	16730698	29%	74
75	29%	16730955	FF4B4B	FF4B4B	16730955	29%	75
76	29%	16731212	FF4C4C	FF4C4C	16731212	29%	76
77	30%	16731469	FF4D4D	FF4D4D	16731469	30%	77
78	30%	16731726	FF4E4E	FF4E4E	16731726	30%	78
79	30%	16731983	FF4F4F	FF4F4F	16731983	30%	79
80	31%	16732240	FF5050	FF5050	16732240	31%	80
81	31%	16732497	FF5151	FF5151	16732497	31%	81
82	32%	16732754	FF5252	FF5252	16732754	32%	82
83	32%	16733011	FF5353	FF5353	16733011	32%	83
84	32%	16733268	FF5454	FF5454	16733268	32%	84
85	33%	16733525	FF5555	FF5555	16733525	33%	85
86	33%	16733782	FF5656	FF5656	16733782	33%	86
87	34%	16734039	FF5757	FF5757	16734039	34%	87
88	34%	16734296	FF5858	FF5858	16734296	34%	88
89	34%	16734553	FF5959	FF5959	16734553	34%	89
90	35%	16734810	FF5A5A	FF5A5A	16734810	35%	90
91	35%	16735067	FF5B5B	FF5B5B	16735067	35%	91
92	36%	16735324	FF5C5C	FF5C5C	16735324	36%	92
93	36%	16735581	FF5D5D	FF5D5D	16735581	36%	93
94	36%	16735838	FF5E5E	FF5E5E	16735838	36%	94
95	37%	16736095	FF5F5F	FF5F5F	16736095	37%	95
96	37%	16736352	FF6060	FF6060	16736352	37%	96
97	38%	16736609	FF6161	FF6161	16736609	38%	97
98	38%	16736866	FF6262	FF6262	16736866	38%	98
99	38%	16737123	FF6363	FF6363	16737123	38%	99
100	39%	16737380	FF6464	FF6464	16737380	39%	100
101	39%	16737637	FF6565	FF6565	16737637	39%	101
102	40%	16737894	FF6666	FF6666	16737894	40%	102
103	40%	16738151	FF6767	FF6767	16738151	40%	103
104	40%	16738408	FF6868	FF6868	16738408	40%	104
105	41%	16738665	FF6969	FF6969	16738665	41%	105
106	41%	16738922	FF6A6A	FF6A6A	16738922	41%	106
107	41%	16739179	FF6B6B	FF6B6B	16739179	41%	107
108	42%	16739436	FF6C6C	FF6C6C	16739436	42%	108
109	42%	16739693	FF6D6D	FF6D6D	16739693	42%	109
110	43%	16739950	FF6E6E	FF6E6E	16739950	43%	110
111	43%	16740207	FF6F6F	FF6F6F	16740207	43%	111
112	43%	16740464	FF7070	FF7070	16740464	43%	112
113	44%	16740721	FF7171	FF7171	16740721	44%	113
114	44%	16740978	FF7272	FF7272	16740978	44%	114
115	45%	16741235	FF7373	FF7373	16741235	45%	115
116	45%	16741492	FF7474	FF7474	16741492	45%	116
117	45%	16741749	FF7575	FF7575	16741749	45%	117
118	46%	16742006	FF7676	FF7676	16742006	46%	118
119	46%	16742263	FF7777	FF7777	16742263	46%	119
120	47%	16742520	FF7878	FF7878	16742520	47%	120
121	47%	16742777	FF7979	FF7979	16742777	47%	121
122	47%	16743034	FF7A7A	FF7A7A	16743034	47%	122
123	48%	16743291	FF7B7B	FF7B7B	16743291	48%	123
124	48%	16743548	FF7C7C	FF7C7C	16743548	48%	124
125	49%	16743805	FF7D7D	FF7D7D	16743805	49%	125
126	49%	16744062	FF7E7E	FF7E7E	16744062	49%	126
127	49%	16744319	FF7F7F	FF7F7F	16744319	49%	127
128	50%	16744576	FF8080	FF8080	16744576	50%	128
129	50%	16744833	FF8181	FF8181	16744833	50%	129
130	50%	16745090	FF8282	FF8282	16745090	50%	130
131	51%	16745347	FF8383	FF8383	16745347	51%	131
132	51%	16745604	FF8484	FF8484	16745604	51%	132
133	52%	16745861	FF8585	FF8585	16745861	52%	133
134	52%	16746118	FF8686	FF8686	16746118	52%	134
135	52%	16746375	FF8787	FF8787	16746375	52%	135
136	53%	16746632	FF8888	FF8888	16746632	53%	136
137	53%	16746889	FF8989	FF8989	16746889	53%	137
138	54%	16747146	FF8A8A	FF8A8A	16747146	54%	138
139	54%	16747403	FF8B8B	FF8B8B	16747403	54%	139
140	54%	16747660	FF8C8C	FF8C8C	16747660	54%	140
141	55%	16747917	FF8D8D	FF8D8D	16747917	55%	141
142	55%	16748174	FF8E8E	FF8E8E	16748174	55%	142
143	56%	16748431	FF8F8F	FF8F8F	16748431	56%	143
144	56%	16748688	FF9090	FF9090	16748688	56%	144
145	56%	16748945	FF9191	FF9191	16748945	56%	145
146	57%	16749202	FF9292	FF9292	16749202	57%	146
147	57%	16749459	FF9393	FF9393	16749459	57%	147
148	58%	16749716	FF9494	FF9494	16749716	58%	148
149	58%	16749973	FF9595	FF9595	16749973	58%	149
150	58%	16750230	FF9696	FF9696	16750230	58%	150
151	59%	16750487	FF9797	FF9797	16750487	59%	151
152	59%	16750744	FF9898	FF9898	16750744	59%	152
153	60%	16751001	FF9999	FF9999	16751001	60%	153
154	60%	16751258	FF9A9A	FF9A9A	16751258	60%	154
155	60%	16751515	FF9B9B	FF9B9B	16751515	60%	155
156	61%	16751772	FF9C9C	FF9C9C	16751772	61%	156
157	61%	16752029	FF9D9D	FF9D9D	16752029	61%	157
158	61%	16752286	FF9E9E	FF9E9E	16752286	61%	158
159	62%	16752543	FF9F9F	FF9F9F	16752543	62%	159
160	62%	16752800	FFA0A0	FFA0A0	16752800	62%	160
161	63%	16753057	FFA1A1	FFA1A1	16753057	63%	161
162	63%	16753314	FFA2A2	FFA2A2	16753314	63%	162
163	63%	16753571	FFA3A3	FFA3A3	16753571	63%	163
164	64%	16753828	FFA4A4	FFA4A4	16753828	64%	164
165	64%	16754085	FFA5A5	FFA5A5	16754085	64%	165
166	65%	16754342	FFA6A6	FFA6A6	16754342	65%	166
167	65%	16754599	FFA7A7	FFA7A7	16754599	65%	167
168	65%	16754856	FFA8A8	FFA8A8	16754856	65%	168
169	66%	16755113	FFA9A9	FFA9A9	16755113	66%	169
170	66%	16755370	FFAAAA	FFAAAA	16755370	66%	170
171	67%	16755627	FFABAB	FFABAB	16755627	67%	171
172	67%	16755884	FFACAC	FFACAC	16755884	67%	172
173	67%	16756141	FFADAD	FFADAD	16756141	67%	173
174	68%	16756398	FFAEAE	FFAEAE	16756398	68%	174
175	68%	16756655	FFAFAF	FFAFAF	16756655	68%	175
176	69%	16756912	FFB0B0	FFB0B0	16756912	69%	176
177	69%	16757169	FFB1B1	FFB1B1	16757169	69%	177
178	69%	16757426	FFB2B2	FFB2B2	16757426	69%	178
179	70%	16757683	FFB3B3	FFB3B3	16757683	70%	179
180	70%	16757940	FFB4B4	FFB4B4	16757940	70%	180
181	70%	16758197	FFB5B5	FFB5B5	16758197	70%	181
182	71%	16758454	FFB6B6	FFB6B6	16758454	71%	182
183	71%	16758711	FFB7B7	FFB7B7	16758711	71%	183
184	72%	16758968	FFB8B8	FFB8B8	16758968	72%	184
185	72%	16759225	FFB9B9	FFB9B9	16759225	72%	185
186	72%	16759482	FFBABA	FFBABA	16759482	72%	186
187	73%	16759739	FFBBBB	FFBBBB	16759739	73%	187
188	73%	16759996	FFBCBC	FFBCBC	16759996	73%	188
189	74%	16760253	FFBDBD	FFBDBD	16760253	74%	189
190	74%	16760510	FFBEBE	FFBEBE	16760510	74%	190
191	74%	16760767	FFBFBF	FFBFBF	16760767	74%	191
192	75%	16761024	FFC0C0	FFC0C0	16761024	75%	192
193	75%	16761281	FFC1C1	FFC1C1	16761281	75%	193
194	76%	16761538	FFC2C2	FFC2C2	16761538	76%	194
195	76%	16761795	FFC3C3	FFC3C3	16761795	76%	195
196	76%	16762052	FFC4C4	FFC4C4	16762052	76%	196
197	77%	16762309	FFC5C5	FFC5C5	16762309	77%	197
198	77%	16762566	FFC6C6	FFC6C6	16762566	77%	198
199	78%	16762823	FFC7C7	FFC7C7	16762823	78%	199
200	78%	16763080	FFC8C8	FFC8C8	16763080	78%	200
201	78%	16763337	FFC9C9	FFC9C9	16763337	78%	201
202	79%	16763594	FFCACA	FFCACA	16763594	79%	202
203	79%	16763851	FFCBCB	FFCBCB	16763851	79%	203
204	80%	16764108	FFCCCC	FFCCCC	16764108	80%	204
205	80%	16764365	FFCDCD	FFCDCD	16764365	80%	205
206	80%	16764622	FFCECE	FFCECE	16764622	80%	206
207	81%	16764879	FFCFCF	FFCFCF	16764879	81%	207
208	81%	16765136	FFD0D0	FFD0D0	16765136	81%	208
209	81%	16765393	FFD1D1	FFD1D1	16765393	81%	209
210	82%	16765650	FFD2D2	FFD2D2	16765650	82%	210
211	82%	16765907	FFD3D3	FFD3D3	16765907	82%	211
212	83%	16766164	FFD4D4	FFD4D4	16766164	83%	212
213	83%	16766421	FFD5D5	FFD5D5	16766421	83%	213
214	83%	16766678	FFD6D6	FFD6D6	16766678	83%	214
215	84%	16766935	FFD7D7	FFD7D7	16766935	84%	215
216	84%	16767192	FFD8D8	FFD8D8	16767192	84%	216
217	85%	16767449	FFD9D9	FFD9D9	16767449	85%	217
218	85%	16767706	FFDADA	FFDADA	16767706	85%	218
219	85%	16767963	FFDBDB	FFDBDB	16767963	85%	219
220	86%	16768220	FFDCDC	FFDCDC	16768220	86%	220
221	86%	16768477	FFDDDD	FFDDDD	16768477	86%	221
222	87%	16768734	FFDEDE	FFDEDE	16768734	87%	222
223	87%	16768991	FFDFDF	FFDFDF	16768991	87%	223
224	87%	16769248	FFE0E0	FFE0E0	16769248	87%	224
225	88%	16769505	FFE1E1	FFE1E1	16769505	88%	225
226	88%	16769762	FFE2E2	FFE2E2	16769762	88%	226
227	89%	16770019	FFE3E3	FFE3E3	16770019	89%	227
228	89%	16770276	FFE4E4	FFE4E4	16770276	89%	228
229	89%	16770533	FFE5E5	FFE5E5	16770533	89%	229
230	90%	16770790	FFE6E6	FFE6E6	16770790	90%	230
231	90%	16771047	FFE7E7	FFE7E7	16771047	90%	231
232	90%	16771304	FFE8E8	FFE8E8	16771304	90%	232
233	91%	16771561	FFE9E9	FFE9E9	16771561	91%	233
234	91%	16771818	FFEAEA	FFEAEA	16771818	91%	234
235	92%	16772075	FFEBEB	FFEBEB	16772075	92%	235
236	92%	16772332	FFECEC	FFECEC	16772332	92%	236
237	92%	16772589	FFEDED	FFEDED	16772589	92%	237
238	93%	16772846	FFEEEE	FFEEEE	16772846	93%	238
239	93%	16773103	FFEFEF	FFEFEF	16773103	93%	239
240	94%	16773360	FFF0F0	FFF0F0	16773360	94%	240
241	94%	16773617	FFF1F1	FFF1F1	16773617	94%	241
242	94%	16773874	FFF2F2	FFF2F2	16773874	94%	242
243	95%	16774131	FFF3F3	FFF3F3	16774131	95%	243
244	95%	16774388	FFF4F4	FFF4F4	16774388	95%	244
245	96%	16774645	FFF5F5	FFF5F5	16774645	96%	245
246	96%	16774902	FFF6F6	FFF6F6	16774902	96%	246
247	96%	16775159	FFF7F7	FFF7F7	16775159	96%	247
248	97%	16775416	FFF8F8	FFF8F8	16775416	97%	248
249	97%	16775673	FFF9F9	FFF9F9	16775673	97%	249
250	98%	16775930	FFFAFA	FFFAFA	16775930	98%	250
251	98%	16776187	FFFBFB	FFFBFB	16776187	98%	251
252	98%	16776444	FFFCFC	FFFCFC	16776444	98%	252
253	99%	16776701	FFFDFD	FFFDFD	16776701	99%	253
254	99%	16776958	FFFEFE	FFFEFE	16776958	99%	254
255	100%	16777215	FFFFFF	FFFFFF	16777215	100%	255