COLOURlovers API Documentation and Showcase

Posted By COLOURlover On 2 April, 2008 @ 9:35 am In Tools, Popular, Inspiration, Interact, News | 30 Comments

With the release of the COLOURlovers API, you can now access almost 1 million named colors and more than 325,000 color palettes for your creative projects and applications. Creating a theme editor and want to give your users some color theme options? Creating a visual project that ties keywords to colors? Who knows what amazingly creative stuff people will come up with.

Below are two showcase examples of the COLOURlovers API in action as well as the full API documentation. Happy API COLOURloving!

COLOURlovers API Usage Showcase

Desktop Color Search - AIR App

Desktop Color Search is an Adobe AIR app that runs on your desktop and allows you to search the entire COLOURlovers database for colors, palettes and patterns. You’ll need to download the Adobe AIR runtime in order to run Desktop Color Search, you can use the link below to install AIR. (It works in both Windows and on Mac OS X)
Special thanks to Levi McCallum at FutonMedia for coding the AIR app.

Download Desktop Color Finder | Download Adobe AIR

DEKAF LOVERS

A simple interface to COLOURlover’s deep, deep palette library, it creates randomized compositions using rectangular geometry drawn by the Degrafa drawing library.
Have some fun of your own color fun with Dekaf Lovers.

COLOURlovers API Documentation

License:

Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
If you would like to use the API in ways outside of this license please contact us for permission.

Colors:

Request URLs: [For Multiple Colors]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/top
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/random [No parameters allowed]

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: lover, hueRange, briRange, keywords, keywordExact, orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset
examples:

lover = COLOURlover
hueRange = 12,68 [values must be 0>value<359, and the left value must be less than the right value]
briRange = 2,88 [values must be 0>value<99, and the left value must be less than the right value]
keywords = search+term
keywordExact = X [Where X can be 0 or 1 - performs an exact search for the keywords passed. Default 0]
orderCol = X [Where X can be: dateCreated, score, name, numVotes, numViews]
sortBy = X [Where X can be: ASC, DESC]
numResults = 20 [Number of results to return, maximum of 100. Default 20]
resultOffset = 5 [Result offset, for paging. Default 0]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Color]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/color/1133EF - Where 1133EF is any 6 char hex value

Parameters: N/A

Example Result:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<colors>
	<color>
		<title><![CDATA[wet dirt]]></title>
		<userName><![CDATA[jessicabrown]]></userName>
		<numViews>0</numViews>
		<numVotes>0</numVotes>
		<numComments>0</numComments>
		<numHearts>0</numHearts>
		<rank>903853</rank>
		<dateCreated>2008-03-17 11:22:21</dateCreated>
		<hex>6B4106</hex>
		<rgb>
			<red>107</red>
			<green>65</green>
			<blue>6</blue>
		</rgb>
		<hsv>
			<hue>35</hue>
			<saturation>94</saturation>
			<value>42</value>
		</hsv>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/color/6B4106/wet_dirt]]></url>
		<imageUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/img/6B4106/100/100/wet_dirt.png]]></imageUrl>
		<apiUrl>http://www.colourlovers.com/api/color/6B4106</apiUrl>
	</color>
</colors>

Breakdown of API xml:

`title`	Title / Name of the color `CDATA`
`userName`	Username of the color’s creator `CDATA`
`numViews`	Number of views this color has received
`numVotes`	Number of votes this color has received
`numComments`	Number of comments this color has received
`numHearts`	Number of hearts this color has
`rank`	This color’s rank on COLOURlovers.com
`dateCreated`	Date this color was created
`hex`	This color’s hex value
`rgb`	RGB breakdown of this color
`red`	Red value
`green`	Green value
`blue`	Blue value
`hsv`	HSV breakdown of this color
`hue`	Hue value
`saturation`	Saturation value
`value`	Value / Balance value
`description`	This color’s description `CDATA`
`url`	This color’s COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`imageUrl`	Link to a png version of this color `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This color’s COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Palettes:

Request URLs: [For Multiple Palettes]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes/top
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palettes/random [No parameters allowed]

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: lover, hueOption, hex, keywords, keywordExact, orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset
examples:

lover = COLOURlover
hueOption = yellow,orange,red [possible values: red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, violet, fuchsia]
hueOption = yellow,orange
hueOption = yellow
hex = 00FF33
keywords = search+term
keywordExact = X [Where X can be 0 or 1 - performs an exact search for the keywords passed. Default 0]
orderCol = X [Where X can be: dateCreated, score, name, numVotes, numViews]
sortBy = X [Where X can be: ASC, DESC]
numResults = 20 [Number of results to return, maximum of 100. Default 20]
resultOffset = 5 [Result offset, for paging. Default 0]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Palette]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palette/113451 - Where 113451 is a valid paletteID

Parameters: N/A

Example Result:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<palettes>
	<palette>
		<title><![CDATA[be my boy]]></title>
		<userName><![CDATA[sinta schneider]]></userName>
		<numViews>1052</numViews>
		<numVotes>37</numVotes>
		<numComments>13</numComments>
		<numHearts>4.5</numHearts>
		<rank>1</rank>
		<dateCreated>2008-03-01 16:19:21</dateCreated>
		<colors>
			<hex>423238</hex>
			<hex>F5DE8C</hex>
			<hex>C8D197</hex>
			<hex>B3702D</hex>
			<hex>EB2138</hex>
		</colors>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/293826/be_my_boy]]></url>
		<imageUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/paletteImg/423238/F5DE8C/C8D197/B3702D/EB2138/be_my_boy.png]></imageUrl>
		<apiUrl>http://www.colourlovers.com/api/palette/293826</apiUrl>
	</palette>
</palettes>

Breakdown of API xml:

`title`	Title / Name of the palette `CDATA`
`userName`	Username of the palette’s creator `CDATA`
`numViews`	Number of views this palette has received
`numVotes`	Number of votes this palette has received
`numComments`	Number of comments this palette has received
`numHearts`	Number of palette this color has
`rank`	This palette’s rank on COLOURlovers.com
`dateCreated`	Date this palette was created
`colors`	List of colors within this palette
`hex`	Hex value
`hex`	Hex value
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`description`	This palette’s description `CDATA`
`url`	This palette’s COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`imageUrl`	Link to a png version of this palette `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This palette’s COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Patterns:

Request URLs: [For Multiple Patterns]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns/top
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/patterns/random [No parameters allowed]

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: lover, hueOption, hex, keywords, keywordExact, orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset
examples:

Request URL: [For One Pattern]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/pattern/1451 - Where 1451 is a valid patternID

Parameters: N/A

Example Result:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<patterns>
	<pattern>
		<title><![CDATA[Tenderness.]]></title>
		<userName><![CDATA[not.an.am.person]]></userName>
		<numViews>617</numViews>
		<numVotes>32</numVotes>
		<numComments>14</numComments>
		<numHearts>4.5</numHearts>
		<rank>1</rank>
		<dateCreated>2008-03-01 06:43:38</dateCreated>
		<colors>
			<hex>C6C5AC</hex>
			<hex>CDB89F</hex>
			<hex>D4AA93</hex>
			<hex>B8E0C5</hex>
			<hex>BFD3B8</hex>
		</colors>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/pattern/49471/Tenderness.]]></url>
		<imageUrl><![CDATA[http://colourlovers.com.s3.amazonaws.com/images/patterns/49/49471.png]></imageUrl>
		<apiUrl>http://www.colourlovers.com/api/pattern/49471</apiUrl>
	</pattern>
</patterns>

Breakdown of API xml:

`title`	Title / Name of the pattern `CDATA`
`userName`	Username of the pattern’s creator `CDATA`
`numViews`	Number of views this pattern has received
`numVotes`	Number of votes this pattern has received
`numComments`	Number of comments this pattern has received
`numHearts`	Number of pattern this color has
`rank`	This pattern’s rank on COLOURlovers.com
`dateCreated`	Date this pattern was created
`colors`	List of colors within this pattern
`hex`	Hex value
`hex`	Hex value
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`[hex]`	Hex value [may not be present]
`description`	This pattern’s description `CDATA`
`url`	This pattern’s COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`imageUrl`	Link to a png version of this pattern `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This pattern’s COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Lovers:

Request URLs: [For Multiple Lovers]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lovers
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lovers/new
http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lovers/top

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: orderCol, sortBy, numResults, resultOffset

examples:

orderCol = X [Where X can be: lastActive, name]
sortBy = X [Where X can be: ASC, DESC]
numResults = 20 [Number of results to return, maximum of 100. Default 20]
resultOffset = 5 [Result offset, for paging. Default 0]

Requests with orderCol defined will override any /new or /top switch

Request URL: [For One Lover]

http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lover/COLOURlover - Where COLOURlover is a valid COLOURlovers.com Username

Parameters [Case-sensitve]: comments
examples:

comments = 1 [will show last 10 comments for given lover]

Example Result:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<lovers>
	<lover>
		<userName><![CDATA[electrikmonk]]></userName>
		<dateRegistered>2005-08-07 6:45:47</dateRegistered>
		<dateLastActive>2008-03-16 21:02:01</dateLastActive>
		<rating>554159</rating>
		<location><![CDATA[#FF0000stick, LA, US]]></location>
		<numColors>3,498</numColors>
		<numPalettes>2,775</numPalettes>
		<numPatterns>36</numPatterns>
		<numCommentsMade>7,201</numCommentsMade>
		<numLovers>710</numLovers>
		<numCommentsOnProfile>672</numCommentsOnProfile>
		Optional comments [Only returned when viewing one lover with the ?comments=1]
		<comments>
			<comment>
			<commentDate>2008-03-10 05:10:58</commentDate>
				<commentUserName><![CDATA[mashedpotato]]></commentUserName>
				<commentComments><![CDATA[you are so awesome.  ]]></commentComments>
			</comment>
		</comments>
		<url><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/lover/electrikmonk]]></url>
		<apiUrl><![CDATA[http://www.colourlovers.com/api/lover/electrikmonk]]></apiUrl>
	</lover>
</lovers>

Breakdown of API xml:

`userName`	This lover’s Username `CDATA`
`dateRegistered`	Date this lover registered with COLOURlovers.com
`dateLastActive`	Date this lover was last active on COLOURlovers.com
`rating`	This lover’s rating
`location`	This lover’s location
`numColors`	Number of colors this lover has made
`numPalettes`	Number of palettes this lover has made
`numPatterns`	Number of patterns this lover has made
`numCommentsMade`	Number of comments this lover has made
`numLovers`	Number of lovers [friends] this lover has
`numCommentsOnProfile`	Number of comments this lover has on their profile
Optional comments [Only returned when viewing one lover with the `?comments=1`]
`comments`	Last 10 comments made on this lover’s profile
`comment`	Individual comment
`commentDate`	Date the comment was made `Format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS - times are CST/CDT`
`commentUserName`	Commenter’s COLOURlovers.com Username `CDATA`
`commentComments`	And finally, the comments! `CDATA`
`url`	This lovers’s COLOURlovers.com URL `CDATA`
`apiUrl`	This lovers’s COLOURlovers.com API URL `CDATA`

Example API code [PHP]:


<?php
	$curl = curl_init();
	curl_setopt($curl,CURLOPT_URL,"http://www.colourlovers.com/api/colors/new");
	curl_setopt($curl,CURLOPT_HEADER,false);
	curl_setopt($curl,CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER,true);
	$xml = curl_exec($curl);
	curl_close($curl);

	header("Content-Type: text/xml; charset=utf-8");
	echo $xml;
?>

PHP Wrapper to the API

phpColourLover PHP wrapper for the COLOURlovers API by gsmonk

COLOURlovers API

Access to the services provided by this website and the COLOURlovers API and use of the information and services provided through the same, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Websites or software that use the information and services provided by this website and API must provide attribution credit to colourlovers.com.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the name of colourlovers.com nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission, apart from the required attribution above.

THIS WEBSITE AND THE COLOURlovers API IS PROVIDED BY COLOURLOVERS.COM “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL COLOURLOVERS.COM BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

URL to article: http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2008/04/02/colourlovers-api-documentation-and-showcase/