Color palette
A small set of colors chosen to be used together in a design.
Also called palette, palettes, color palettes
A color palette is the set of colors a design draws from, usually 3 to 8 colors with clear roles: background, text, primary, accent.
You can pull a palette from a photo, build one from a harmony, or start from a palette of the day.
Guides that cover Color palette
- Palettes Color Palettes Free color palette generator: build harmonious color palettes, browse a new one daily, preview it on real designs and copy HEX codes or CSS. Start now.
- Harmony What Is Color Harmony? Color harmony explained: complementary, analogous, triadic and other harmonies, and how balanced color relationships make a design feel right. Read on.
- Neutrals Understanding Neutral Colors Neutral colors explained: warm, cool and balanced grays, beiges and muted tones, plus how to build a neutral color palette for rooms, brands and UI.
- Palettes What Is a Color Palette? What is a color palette? Learn the main palette types, how many colors to use and how to build one for your brand or website. Then try our palette tools.
- Light How Light Affects Color How light affects color: learn how light sources, reflection and surroundings change the colors we see, and why paint looks different at home. Read now.
- Color Wheel Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors Explained Primary, secondary and tertiary colors explained across RYB, RGB and CMYK, with how each one is mixed on the color wheel. Learn the basics in 5 minutes.
- High & Low Key High-Key vs Low-Key Colors High-key vs low-key colors explained: how light and dark color schemes set mood in design, art and photography, with tips on using each well. Read the guide.
- Tints & Shades Tints, Shades, and Tones Tint, shade and tone explained: see how adding white, black or gray changes a base color, and how to use each to build richer palettes. Read the quick guide.
- About Swatching About Swatching Swatch.ing is a designer-built set of free color tools: palette extraction, HEX/RGB/CMYK conversion and precise color picking. Learn why it exists here.
- Pantone What Are Pantone Colors? Learn what Pantone colors are, how the Pantone Matching System and color codes work, and how Pantone compares to CMYK, RGB and HEX for print. Read on.
- Warm & Cool What Is Color Temperature? Color temperature explained: how Kelvin is measured, warm vs cool light and colors, and how temperature affects lighting, design and photos. Read the guide.
- CMYK What are CMYK colors? What is CMYK? Learn how the CMYK color model works, how it differs from RGB, and why print looks duller than your screen, plus how to convert. Read on.
- HSL What are HSL colors? HSL color explained: how hue, saturation and lightness define a color, how the HSL color space differs from RGB, and how to use HSL and HSLA in CSS. Read on.
- HEX What are HEX Colors? Hex colors explained: how hex color codes like #FF5733 work, how #RRGGBB maps to RGB, what shorthand hex means and how to convert hex to RGB. Read on.
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