---
title: Functions
layout: documentation
doc-tab: utilities
doc-subtab: functions
breadcrumb:
- home
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- utilities-functions
---

<div class="content">
  <p>
    Bulma has <strong>custom Sass functions</strong> to help find <strong>related colors</strong> dynamically:
  </p>

  <ul>
    <li><code>findColorInvert($color)</code>: returns either 70% transparent black or 100% opaque white depending on the luminance of the color</li>
    <li><code>findLightColor($color)</code>: returns the current color but with a lightness of at <em>least</em> 96%</li>
    <li><code>findDarkColor($color)</code>: returns the current color but with a lightness of at <em>most</em> 29%</li>
  </ul>

  <p>
    Bulma also has a few utility functions to calculate useful values:
  </p>

  <ul>
    <li><code>powerNumber($number, $exp)</code>: calculates the value of a number exposed to another one. Returns a number</li>
    <li><code>colorLuminance($color)</code>: defines if a color is dark or light. Return a decimal number between 0 and 1 where <= 0.5 is dark and > 0.5 is light</li>
  </ul>
</div>

{% include elements/anchor.html name="The <code>findColorInvert()</code> function" %}

<div class="content">
  <p>The <code>findColorInvert($color)</code> function takes a <strong>color</strong> as an input, and outputs either transparent <strong>black</strong> <code>rgba(#000, 0.7)</code> or <strong>white</strong> <code>#fff</code>:</p>
  <ul>
    <li>if <code>colorLuminance($color) > 0.55</code>, it outputs <code>rgba(#000, 0.7)</code></li>
    <li>otherwise, it outputs <code>#fff</code></li>
  </ul>
  <p>Its purpose is to guarantee a <strong>readable</strong> shade for the <em>text</em> when the input color is used as the <em>background</em>.</p>
  <div class="table-container">
    <table class="table is-bordered">
      <thead>
        <tr>
          <th>color</th>
          <th>color luminance</th>
          <th>findColorInvert()</th>
          <th>result</th>
        </tr>
      </thead>
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #00d1b2;"></span>
            <code>#00d1b2</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.52831</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #fff;"></span>
            <code>#fff</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #00d1b2; border-color: #00d1b2; color: #fff;">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #3273dc;"></span>
            <code>#3273dc</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.23119</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #fff;"></span>
            <code>#fff</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #3273dc; border-color: #3273dc; color: #fff;">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #23d160;"></span>
            <code>#23d160</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.51067</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #fff;"></span>
            <code>#fff</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #23d160; border-color: #23d160; color: #fff;">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #ffdd57;"></span>
            <code>#ffdd57</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.76863</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7);"></span>
            <code>rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #ffdd57; border-color: #ffdd57; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.7);">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #ff3860;"></span>
            <code>#ff3860</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.27313</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #fff;"></span>
            <code>#fff</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #ff3860; border-color: #ff3860; color: #fff;">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #ffb3b3;"></span>
            <code>#ffb3b3</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.61796</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);"></span>
            <code>rgba(0,0,0,0.7)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #ffb3b3; border-color: #ffb3b3; color: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #ffbc6b;"></span>
            <code>#ffbc6b</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.63053</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);"></span>
            <code>rgba(0,0,0,0.7)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: #ffbc6b; border-color: #ffbc6b; color: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: hsl(294, 71%, 79%);"></span>
            <code>hsl(294, 71%, 79%)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <code>0.5529</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);"></span>
            <code>rgba(0,0,0,0.7)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); border-color: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); color: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
  </div>
  <p>
    For colors that have a luminance close to the <code>0.55</code> threshold, it can be useful to <strong>override</strong> the <code>findColorInvert()</code> function, and rather set the invert color <strong>manually.</strong>
    <br>
    For example, this shade of <span class="bd-color" style="background: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); float: none; height: 16px; width: 16px; margin-right: 0; vertical-align: middle;"></span> purple has a color luminance of <code>0.5529</code>. It can be preferable to set a color invert of white instead of transparent black:
  </p>

  <div class="table-container">
    <table class="table is-bordered">
      <tbody>
        <tr>
          <th>
            with <code>findColorInvert()</code>
          </th>
          <td>
            <code>$purple-invert: findColorInvert($purple)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);"></span>
            <code>rgba(0,0,0,0.7)</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); border-color: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); color: rgba(0,0,0,0.7);">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
          <th>
            with manual setting
          </th>
          <td>
            <code>$purple-invert: #fff</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <span class="bd-color" style="background: #fff;"></span>
            <code>#fff</code>
          </td>
          <td>
            <a class="button" style="background: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); border-color: hsl(294, 71%, 79%); color: #fff;">
              Button
            </a>
          </td>
        </tr>
      </tbody>
    </table>
  </div>
</div>

{% include elements/anchor.html name="The <code>findLightColor()</code> and <code>findDarkColor()</code> functions" %}

<div class="content">
  <p>
    The <code>findLightColor($color)</code> and <code>findDarkColor($color)</code> functions take a <strong>color</strong> as an input, and output that color's light and dark versions respectively</code>:
  </p>
</div>

<div class="table-container">
  <table class="table is-bordered">
    <thead>
      <tr>
        <th>color</th>
        <th>findLightColor</th>
        <th>findDarkColor</th>
      </tr>
    </thead>

    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(171deg, 100%, 41%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(171deg, 100%, 96%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(171deg, 100%, 29%)" %}
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(229deg 53% 53%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(229deg 52% 96%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(229deg 53% 47%)" %}
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(153deg 53% 53%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(153deg 52% 96%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(153deg 53% 31%)" %}
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(44deg 100% 77%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(45deg 100% 96%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(44deg 100% 29%)" %}
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(348deg 86% 61%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(347deg 90% 96%)" %}
        </td>
        <td>
          {% include elements/color-square.html value="hsl(348deg 86% 43%)" %}
        </td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>
</div>