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The ColorFormat object provides access to color properties for fills, lines, and fonts. It supports RGB colors, theme colors, and brightness adjustments.

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Usage

from pptx import Presentation
from pptx.util import Inches
from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor
from pptx.enum.dml import MSO_THEME_COLOR

prs = Presentation()
slide = prs.slides.add_slide(prs.slide_layouts[6])
shape = slide.shapes.add_shape(MSO_SHAPE.RECTANGLE, Inches(1), Inches(1), Inches(2), Inches(1))

# Set RGB color
shape.fill.solid()
shape.fill.fore_color.rgb = RGBColor(255, 127, 0)

# Use theme color
shape.fill.fore_color.theme_color = MSO_THEME_COLOR.ACCENT_1

# Adjust brightness
shape.fill.fore_color.brightness = 0.25  # 25% lighter

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ColorFormat Properties

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brightness
float
Read/write float value between -1.0 and 1.0 indicating brightness adjustment.
  • Negative values make the color darker (e.g., -0.25 is 25% darker)
  • Positive values make the color lighter (e.g., 0.4 is 40% lighter)
  • 0 means no brightness adjustment
Raises ValueError if color type is None. Set rgb or theme_color first.
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rgb
RGBColor | None
RGBColor value of this color, or None if no RGB color is defined.Setting this value to an RGBColor instance causes the color type to change to MSO_COLOR_TYPE.RGB. Any brightness adjustment on a theme color is removed when changing to RGB.
shape.fill.fore_color.rgb = RGBColor(255, 127, 0)
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theme_color
MSO_THEME_COLOR
Theme color value from the MSO_THEME_COLOR enumeration.Examples: MSO_THEME_COLOR.ACCENT_1, MSO_THEME_COLOR.DARK_1Raises AttributeError if accessed when color is not type MSO_COLOR_TYPE.SCHEME. Assigning a theme color value causes the color’s type to change to MSO_COLOR_TYPE.SCHEME.
shape.fill.fore_color.theme_color = MSO_THEME_COLOR.ACCENT_1
shape.fill.fore_color.brightness = -0.25  # 25% darker accent color
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type
MSO_COLOR_TYPE | None
Read-only. The type of this color definition.Values from MSO_COLOR_TYPE enumeration:
  • MSO_COLOR_TYPE.RGB - Defined by RGB values
  • MSO_COLOR_TYPE.SCHEME - Defined by theme color
  • MSO_COLOR_TYPE.HSL - Defined by hue, saturation, luminance
  • MSO_COLOR_TYPE.PRESET - Preset color name
  • MSO_COLOR_TYPE.SCRGB - ScRGB color space
  • MSO_COLOR_TYPE.SYSTEM - System color
  • None - No color defined

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RGBColor

Immutable value object defining a particular RGB color.

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Constructor

RGBColor(r, g, b)
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r
int
required
Red component (0-255)
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g
int
required
Green component (0-255)
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b
int
required
Blue component (0-255)

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Class Methods

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from_string(rgb_hex_str)
classmethod
Return a new RGBColor instance from a hex string.
color = RGBColor.from_string('3C2F80')
# Equivalent to RGBColor(60, 47, 128)
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rgb_hex_str
str
required
RGB color as a hex string like '3C2F80' (without ’#’ prefix)
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return
RGBColor
New RGBColor instance

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String Representation

When converted to string, RGBColor returns a hex string: 
color = RGBColor(60, 47, 128)
str(color)  # Returns '3C2F80'

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Examples

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Setting RGB Color

from pptx.dml.color import RGBColor

shape.fill.solid()
shape.fill.fore_color.rgb = RGBColor(255, 127, 0)  # Orange

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Using Theme Colors

from pptx.enum.dml import MSO_THEME_COLOR

shape.fill.solid()
shape.fill.fore_color.theme_color = MSO_THEME_COLOR.ACCENT_1
shape.fill.fore_color.brightness = -0.25  # 25% darker

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Creating Colors from Hex Strings

color = RGBColor.from_string('FF7F00')  # Orange
shape.fill.fore_color.rgb = color

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