diff --git a/src/js/utils/core.js b/src/js/utils/core.js
index e245899a..39fd3c9e 100644
--- a/src/js/utils/core.js
+++ b/src/js/utils/core.js
@@ -167,45 +167,20 @@ if (!Uint32Array.prototype.fill) {
       return colorCache[color];
     }
 
-    var intValue = 0;
-    var r;
-    var g;
-    var b;
-    var a;
-
-    // Hexadecimal
-    if ((color.length == 9 || color.length == 7 || color.length == 3) && color[0] == '#') {
-      var hex = parseInt(color.substr(1), 16);
-      if (color.length == 9) {
-        r = hex >> 24 & 0xff;
-        g = hex >> 16 & 0xff;
-        b = hex >> 8 & 0xff;
-        a = hex & 0xff;
-      } else if (color.length == 7) {
-        r = hex >> 16 & 0xff;
-        g = hex >> 8 & 0xff;
-        b = hex & 0xff;
-        a = 255;
-      } else {
-        r = hex >> 8 & 0xf * 16;
-        g = hex >> 4 & 0xf * 16;
-        b = hex & 0xf * 16;
-        a = 255;
+    var tc = window.tinycolor(color);
+    if (tc && tc.ok) {
+      var rgb = tc.toRgb();
+      var a = Math.round(rgb.a * 255);
+      var intValue = (a << 24 >>> 0) + (rgb.b << 16) + (rgb.g << 8) + rgb.r;
+      if (a === 0) {
+        // assign all 'transparent' colors to 0, theoretically mapped to rgba(0,0,0,0) only
+        intValue = 0;
       }
-    } else if (color.length > 5 && color.substr(0, 5) == 'rgba(') { // RGBA
-      var rgba = color.substr(5).slice(0, -1).split(',');
-      r = parseInt(rgba[0]);
-      g = parseInt(rgba[1]);
-      b = parseInt(rgba[2]);
-      a = Math.floor(parseFloat(rgba[3]) * 255);
-    } else if (color.length > 4 && color.substr(0, 4) == 'rgb(') { // RGB
-      var rgb = color.substr(4).slice(0, -1).split(',');
-      r = parseInt(rgb[0]);
-      g = parseInt(rgb[1]);
-      b = parseInt(rgb[2]);
-      a = 255;
-    } else { // NO HOPE
-      // Determine color by using the browser itself
+      colorCache[color] = intValue;
+      colorCacheReverse[intValue] = color;
+      return intValue;
+    } else {
+      // If tinycolor failed, determine color by using the browser
       var d = document.createElement('div');
       d.style.color = color;
       document.body.appendChild(d);
@@ -216,12 +191,6 @@ if (!Uint32Array.prototype.fill) {
 
       return pskl.utils.colorToInt(color);
     }
-
-    intValue = (a << 24 >>> 0) + (b << 16) + (g << 8) + r;
-
-    colorCache[color] = intValue;
-    colorCacheReverse[intValue] = color;
-    return intValue;
   };
 
   ns.intToColor = function(intValue) {
diff --git a/test/js/utils/CoreTest.js b/test/js/utils/CoreTest.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..441bc883
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/js/utils/CoreTest.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+describe("Core utils tests", function() {
+
+  beforeEach(function() {});
+  afterEach(function() {});
+
+  it("colorToInt parses red", function() {
+    var RED = 4278190335;
+
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("red")).toBe(RED);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("rgb(255,0,0)")).toBe(RED);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("rgba(255,0,0,1)")).toBe(RED);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#FF0000")).toBe(RED);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#ff0000")).toBe(RED);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#f00")).toBe(RED);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#f00")).toBe(RED);
+  });
+
+  it("colorToInt parses white", function() {
+    var WHITE = 4294967295;
+
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("white")).toBe(WHITE);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("rgb(255,255,255)")).toBe(WHITE);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("rgba(255,255,255,1)")).toBe(WHITE);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#FFFFFF")).toBe(WHITE);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#ffffff")).toBe(WHITE);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#FFF")).toBe(WHITE);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("#fff")).toBe(WHITE);
+  });
+
+  it("colorToInt parses transparent", function() {
+    var TRANSPARENT = 0;
+
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("transparent")).toBe(TRANSPARENT);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("rgba(100,120,150, 0)")).toBe(TRANSPARENT);
+    expect(pskl.utils.colorToInt("rgba(255,255,255,0)")).toBe(TRANSPARENT);
+  });
+});
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