Color Palette Generator
Generate beautiful, harmonious color palettes using color theory. Create monochromatic, complementary, analogous, triadic, and custom color schemes. Lock colors, export to CSS/SCSS/Tailwind/JSON/SVG, and create stunning designs. All processing happens in your browser for complete privacy.
Palette Type
How to Use
Generate: Click a palette type button or "Generate New" to create a new color scheme.
Lock Colors: Click the lock icon on any color to keep it when generating new palettes.
Copy: Click on a color swatch or the "Copy HEX" button to copy it to your clipboard.
Edit: Type a HEX color directly into the input field to customize individual colors.
Export: Use the Export button to copy or download your palette in various formats (CSS, SCSS, JSON, SVG, Tailwind, Array).
Color Harmony Types
- Monochromatic: Variations of a single hue
- Analogous: Colors adjacent on the wheel
- Complementary: Opposite colors (high contrast)
- Triadic: Three colors equally spaced
- Tetradic: Four colors in a square formation
- Split-Complementary: Base + two adjacent to complement
Style Presets
- Random: Harmonious random color combinations
- Pastel: Soft, light colors with low saturation
- Vibrant: Bright, highly saturated colors
- Dark: Deep, low-lightness colors for dark themes
What is a Color Palette Generator?
A color palette generator is an essential tool for designers, developers, and creatives that automatically creates harmonious color schemes based on color theory principles. Instead of manually selecting colors that work well together, a palette generator uses mathematical relationships between hues to produce aesthetically pleasing color combinations that are proven to work well in design.
Color theory, developed over centuries by artists and scientists, provides rules for combining colors in ways that are visually appealing to the human eye. These rules are based on the color wheel—a circular diagram that organizes colors by their chromatic relationships. Our color palette generator implements these time-tested principles to help you create professional-looking color schemes in seconds.
Whether you're designing a website, creating a brand identity, building a mobile app, or working on any visual project, choosing the right colors is crucial. Colors evoke emotions, communicate messages, establish hierarchy, and create the overall mood of your design. A well-chosen palette can make the difference between a design that feels amateur and one that looks polished and professional.
Our tool goes beyond simple random color generation—it provides multiple palette types based on established color harmonies, allows you to lock colors you love while generating new variations, and exports your palettes in formats ready to use in CSS, SCSS, Tailwind CSS, JSON, SVG, and JavaScript. All processing happens entirely in your browser, ensuring your creative work stays private and secure.
Understanding Color Harmony Types
Monochromatic Palettes
Monochromatic color schemes use variations in lightness and saturation of a single hue. These palettes create a cohesive, elegant look that's easy on the eyes. Perfect for minimalist designs, professional websites, and creating depth without complexity. Monochromatic palettes are foolproof and work well for backgrounds, UI elements, and establishing visual hierarchy through tints and shades.
Analogous Palettes
Analogous color schemes use colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel (typically within 30-60 degrees). These palettes create serene, comfortable designs often found in nature—like the blues and greens of the ocean, or the reds, oranges, and yellows of a sunset. Ideal for creating harmonious designs without stark contrasts, perfect for backgrounds and ambient interfaces.
Complementary Palettes
Complementary colors sit opposite each other on the color wheel (180 degrees apart), creating maximum contrast and visual impact. Examples include red and cyan, blue and orange, or yellow and purple. These palettes are bold, vibrant, and attention-grabbing. Use them for call-to-action buttons, important highlights, or creating energetic designs. However, use carefully—too much contrast can be overwhelming.
Triadic Palettes
Triadic color schemes use three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel (120 degrees apart). The primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and secondary colors (orange, green, purple) are classic triads. These palettes offer vibrant contrast while maintaining balance and harmony. They're perfect for creating colorful, dynamic designs with good color variety. Works best when one color dominates and others serve as accents.
Tetradic (Square) Palettes
Tetradic or square color schemes use four colors evenly distributed around the color wheel (90 degrees apart), forming a square. These palettes offer the richest color variety but can be challenging to balance. They work best when one color is dominant and the others are used as accents. Ideal for complex designs, infographics, and projects requiring diverse color options while maintaining harmony.
Split-Complementary Palettes
Split-complementary schemes use a base color plus the two colors adjacent to its complement. This creates strong visual contrast like complementary colors but with more nuance and less tension. For example, if your base is blue, instead of using orange (complement), you'd use yellow-orange and red-orange. This harmony is versatile, sophisticated, and easier to balance than pure complementary schemes.
Common Use Cases for Color Palettes
Web Design & Development
Create cohesive color schemes for websites, landing pages, and web applications. Generate palettes and export directly to CSS variables or Tailwind config for instant integration. Use monochromatic palettes for professional corporate sites, complementary for high-conversion landing pages, or analogous for calming user interfaces.
Brand Identity & Logo Design
Develop complete brand color systems with primary, secondary, and accent colors. Use triadic or tetradic palettes for diverse brand applications across print, digital, and merchandise. Export to design tools like Figma, Sketch, or Adobe Creative Suite. Lock your primary brand color and generate complementary colors that enhance your brand identity.
UI/UX Design & Design Systems
Build comprehensive design systems with consistent color scales. Generate monochromatic palettes for state variations (hover, active, disabled) or create accent color palettes for buttons, links, and interactive elements. Export to JSON for integration with design tokens and style guides. Perfect for maintaining consistency across large applications.
Social Media Graphics
Create eye-catching color schemes for Instagram posts, YouTube thumbnails, Facebook covers, and Pinterest graphics. Use vibrant palettes for maximum engagement or pastel palettes for a softer, more approachable aesthetic. Lock your brand colors and generate complementary palettes that maintain brand consistency while keeping content fresh.
Illustration & Digital Art
Find harmonious color combinations for digital illustrations, concept art, character design, and backgrounds. Use analogous palettes for natural scenes, complementary for dramatic impact, or triadic for balanced, colorful compositions. Export palettes to use in Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or other digital art software.
Presentation & Infographic Design
Design professional PowerPoint presentations, Keynote slides, and data visualizations with balanced color palettes. Use tetradic palettes for charts and graphs that need multiple distinct categories, or monochromatic palettes for elegant, focused presentations. Export to your preferred format and maintain visual consistency throughout your slides.
Advanced Features & Tips
Color Locking
The color lock feature is perfect for iterative design. When you find a color you love, click the lock icon to preserve it while regenerating the rest of the palette. This is invaluable when working with brand colors—lock your primary brand color and experiment with different harmonies to find the perfect complementary palette. You can lock multiple colors to gradually build your ideal scheme.
Export Formats Explained
CSS Variables: Generates CSS custom properties (--color-1, --color-2, etc.) ready to paste into your :root selector. Perfect for theming and maintaining consistency across your stylesheet.
SCSS Variables: Creates SCSS/SASS variable declarations ($color-1, $color-2, etc.) for use in preprocessor workflows. Ideal for component libraries and design systems.
Tailwind Config: Exports palette in Tailwind CSS configuration format, ready to add to your tailwind.config.js. Use the generated colors with utility classes like bg-100, text-200, etc.
JSON: Outputs a simple array of hex values in JSON format, perfect for importing into design tools, storing in databases, or using with JavaScript applications.
SVG: Generates an SVG color swatch that can be embedded in documentation, used as a visual reference, or imported into design software for presentation.
JavaScript Array: Creates a JavaScript array literal with your colors, ready to use in React components, Vue templates, or any JavaScript application.
Preset Style Palettes
Beyond traditional color harmonies, our generator includes preset styles that apply specific aesthetic characteristics:
- Pastel: Soft, desaturated colors with high lightness (70-90%). Perfect for gentle, approachable designs, children's content, or spring/summer themes.
- Vibrant: Highly saturated colors (80-100%) with medium lightness. Ideal for energetic brands, youth- oriented products, or designs that need to pop.
- Dark: Low-lightness colors (15-40%) perfect for dark mode interfaces, sophisticated designs, or creating moody atmospheres.
- Random: Harmoniously generated random colors that maintain good relationships on the color wheel while providing unexpected combinations for creative exploration.
Best Practices for Using Color Palettes
- 60-30-10 Rule: Use your dominant color for 60% of the design, secondary color for 30%, and accent color for 10%. This creates balance and visual hierarchy.
- Test Accessibility: Always check that text colors have sufficient contrast against backgrounds (minimum 4.5:1 for normal text). Use our Color Picker tool for contrast checking.
- Start Simple: Begin with 2-3 colors and add more only if needed. Too many colors can create visual chaos and dilute your message.
- Consider Context: Colors have cultural meanings and emotional associations. Blue suggests trust and professionalism, red conveys energy or urgency, green represents growth or environmental themes.
- Test in Multiple Contexts: View your palette on different devices, screens, and in both light and dark environments before finalizing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose the right palette type for my project?
The best palette type depends on your design goals. Use monochromatic for elegant, professional designs; complementary for high-impact, attention-grabbing layouts; analogous for harmonious, calming interfaces; triadic for balanced, colorful designs; and tetradic when you need maximum color variety. Start with the harmony that matches your brand personality, then experiment with different variations until you find what resonates.
Can I use these color palettes commercially?
Yes! All palettes generated by this tool are completely free to use for any purpose, including commercial projects, client work, products, and services. Colors themselves cannot be copyrighted (though specific combinations used in logos may be trademarked by companies). You own the palettes you create and can use them without attribution or restrictions.
How do I use the exported palette in my CSS?
Choose "CSS Variables" from the export menu, then copy the output. Paste it into your CSS file inside a :root selector like this: :root { --color-1: #123456; --color-2: #abcdef; }. Then use these variables throughout your CSS with var(--color-1), var(--color-2), etc. This makes it easy to change your entire color scheme by updating just the root variables.
What does "locking" a color do?
When you lock a color (by clicking the lock icon), that specific color will be preserved when you generate a new palette. This is incredibly useful when you have a brand color or a color you love and want to build the rest of your palette around it. You can lock multiple colors at once, allowing you to iteratively refine your palette while keeping the colors you're happy with.
How do I create a palette based on my brand color?
First, click on any color swatch in the generated palette and type your brand color's hex code into the input field. Then lock that color by clicking the lock icon. Now select different palette types (complementary, triadic, analogous, etc.) and click "Generate New" to explore different harmonies built around your brand color. This lets you discover professional color combinations that work perfectly with your existing brand identity.
What's the difference between pastel, vibrant, and dark palettes?
These preset styles modify the saturation and lightness of colors while maintaining harmony. Pastel palettes have low saturation and high lightness, creating soft, gentle colors. Vibrant palettes maximize saturation for bold, energetic colors. Dark palettes use low lightness for deep, rich colors perfect for dark mode interfaces or sophisticated designs. These presets help you quickly achieve a specific aesthetic without manual adjustments.
Can I edit individual colors in the palette?
Yes! Click on any color swatch or use the text input below each color to type a new hex code directly. This allows you to fine- tune generated palettes or create custom combinations. Any manually edited color can be locked to preserve it during regeneration. This gives you the flexibility to use the generator as a starting point and then customize to your exact needs.
How do I use the Tailwind export format?
Select "Tailwind Config" from the export menu and copy the output. Open your tailwind.config.js file and add the exported colors to the theme.extend.colors section. For example: colors: { 'custom': { 100: '#abc123', 200: '#def456', ... } }. Then use these colors in your HTML with classes like bg-custom-100, text-custom-200, border-custom-300, etc. This integrates your generated palette seamlessly into your Tailwind workflow.
Is my palette data saved anywhere?
No, all palette generation happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. No data is sent to any server, stored in databases, or tracked. Your palettes exist only in your current browser session. If you refresh the page, your current palette will be lost unless you export or save it yourself. This ensures complete privacy for your creative work. We recommend exporting palettes you want to keep for future use.
How many colors should I include in my palette?
For most projects, 3-5 colors is ideal: one dominant color, one or two supporting colors, and one or two accent colors. This provides enough variety for visual interest while maintaining cohesion. Complex applications or design systems might use 7-10 colors with variations. Avoid using too many colors as it can create visual chaos and make your design feel unfocused. Our slider lets you adjust from 3-10 colors to find what works best for your project.
Color Psychology in Design
Colors have psychological effects that influence emotions, perceptions, and behaviors. Understanding color psychology helps you choose palettes that align with your message and resonate with your audience:
Blue: Trust, professionalism, calmness, security. Popular for corporate brands, banks, healthcare, and technology companies.
Red: Energy, passion, urgency, excitement. Effective for call-to-action buttons, sales, food brands, and entertainment.
Green: Growth, health, nature, freshness. Perfect for environmental, wellness, finance (growth), and organic brands.
Yellow: Optimism, happiness, warmth, attention. Great for youthful brands, warnings, and creating cheerful designs.
Purple: Luxury, creativity, wisdom, spirituality. Ideal for beauty products, premium brands, and creative services.
Orange: Enthusiasm, creativity, adventure, affordability. Works well for call-to-actions, sports, and youth-oriented brands.
Pink: Romance, femininity, playfulness, compassion. Common in beauty, fashion, and products targeting female audiences.
Black: Sophistication, luxury, power, elegance. Essential for high-end brands, fashion, and modern minimalist designs.
Gray: Neutrality, balance, professionalism, timelessness. Perfect for backgrounds and supporting elements.
White: Purity, simplicity, cleanliness, space. Creates breathing room and emphasizes minimalism.
Remember that color meanings can vary across cultures. Always consider your target audience's cultural context when selecting colors for global products or diverse audiences.
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