Color Palette Generator Tool

Start building palettes from a base color

Color Palette Generator helps you turn a single base color into a full palette you can use in design or code. At the top of the page, you see a Base Color block with a label, a random-color button, a live preview swatch, a color picker, and a HEX field. You can pick a color from the native picker, type a HEX value like “#F97316,” or click the random icon to explore. The preview swatch updates right away, so you always see the current base color in a larger area.

Just below, the Harmony Type section offers buttons for Analogous, Complementary, Triadic, Split, Tetradic, and Monochromatic. One harmony is always active, and you can change it with a single click. To the side, options for “Colors” and “Variation” control how many swatches appear and how far they drift from the base tone. A wide display area waits underneath to show the generated palette.

Using the generator in practice

1. Start by picking your base color. Use the color picker, type a HEX value into the text field, or click the random button until you see a starting point you like in the preview.
2. Choose a Harmony Type that matches your goal, such as Analogous for soft shifts or Complementary for stronger contrast. Set the number of colors with the dropdown and adjust the Variation range slider to control how bold the shifts should feel.
3. Click the Generate button. The palette display fills with color blocks arranged according to your harmony and variation choices.
4. Click any color tile in the palette to open its details panel, where you can copy HEX, RGB, HSL, and HSB values and see contrast checks against white and black text.

If you want to keep a set, press Save to store the current palette in the Saved Palettes section. You can come back later, click a saved item, and use it as a base for new variations.

How the tool reduces design friction

The layout on screen keeps color research, refinement, and export in one flow. You no longer need a separate picker, harmony diagram, and code snippet writer. Base color, harmony modes, and variation all sit near each other, so you can adjust one control at a time and watch the palette update in the same display block.

Saving palettes means you can explore several directions in a single session without losing earlier ideas. The Saved Palettes list shows each stored set as a compact row, and the Clear All button gives you a clean slate when a project ends. Export buttons then translate the same colors into CSS, SCSS, JSON, Tailwind, or a shareable URL, so you do not have to rewrite codes by hand.

Understanding your palettes and color concepts

Base color, harmonies, and variation

The base color is the anchor of every palette you make here. It appears in the preview box next to the color picker and HEX field, acting as your visual center. When you pick a Harmony Type, the tool builds related colors around this base by shifting hue, saturation, and lightness in patterns that match known harmony schemes. For example, Complementary focuses on colors across from each other on the hue circle, while Analogous stays near the base.

The “Colors” dropdown chooses how many swatches you see at once, from three up to seven. Fewer colors often suit logos or tight UI components, while longer runs help with backgrounds and states. The Variation slider adjusts how far each color can move from the base in terms of lightness and saturation. Lower values keep differences subtle, which works well for clean interfaces. Higher settings create bolder jumps that can fit posters, hero sections, or brand explorations.

If you want more background on how hue and saturation work in digital color, the MDN color value reference explains the main models used in CSS. Reading that alongside your palette results can help you understand why certain harmonies feel calm, energetic, or balanced.

Reading color formats: HEX, RGB, HSL, HSB

When you click a color tile, the Color Details panel slides into view. At the top, a large preview swatch shows the chosen color against the page. Below, you see four rows, each with a label, a value, and a Copy button: HEX, RGB, HSL, and HSB. HEX gives the common web code like “#F97316.” RGB shows the mix of red, green, and blue as numbers from 0 to 255. HSL expresses the color as hue, saturation, and lightness, which can feel more intuitive when tuning designs.

HSB (sometimes called HSV) describes hue, saturation, and brightness. Some design tools and brand teams prefer this view when describing how vivid or pale a color should appear. Since every row has its own Copy button, you can grab the exact format you need for your current task without retyping or converting elsewhere. That may be adding a color to a design tool, a style guide, or a hand-written CSS rule.

The way these formats map back to actual pixels follows shared web standards. The W3C CSS Color Module outlines how browsers interpret HEX, RGB, and HSL values. Knowing that your exported codes fit those definitions means the colors you see in this tool match what modern browsers expect.

Checking contrast for readability

The Contrast Check section in the details panel helps you judge how the selected color behaves behind text. You see two samples: one labeled “White Text” and one labeled “Black Text.” Each sample shows a small card that uses the color as a background and white or black as the text color. Next to each label, a contrast ratio value appears once the tool has enough information.

These ratios relate to accessibility guidance for text readability on colored backgrounds. Higher numbers indicate stronger contrast, which usually makes text easier to read. For body text or important controls, many teams aim for ratios inspired by guidelines like WCAG. If the white text sample shows a low ratio, it suggests that white on that color might be hard to read at small sizes, and you might choose black instead, or adjust the base color and variation.

Using the contrast samples while you generate palettes helps you avoid sets that look nice in swatches but fail once you place real text on top. You can quickly click through several colors in a palette, watch how the ratios change, and pick a combination that balances brand feel and readability.

Exporting palettes for code and design tools

Once you have a palette you like, the Export Palette section turns it into formats that fit your workflow. The buttons labeled CSS, SCSS, JSON, Tailwind, and Share URL sit together above a code-style output box. When you click one, the export area fills with text that represents your current palette in that format. The copy icon next to the block puts the export text onto your clipboard.

CSS output often lists custom properties or class rules. SCSS output may use variables instead. JSON formats are helpful when you want to feed colors into scripts, design systems, or documentation generators. The Tailwind option aims at utility-class setups, mapping colors to names you can reuse across components. Share URL provides a link you can send to teammates so they can open the same palette directly in this tool.

Because exports respond to your current palette, any change to harmony, color count, variation, or base color flows through when you regenerate. You can try a few naming patterns or structures by changing formats and copying again until the export feels right for your project.

What this tool does not do

The tool does not decide which colors are “on-brand” or fit your visual identity. It suggests structured palettes based on your inputs, but judgment about style, culture, and emotion still rests with you and your team. It also does not generate full layouts, typography, or component styles.

You will not find automatic logo design, image editing, or advanced accessibility audits here. The contrast checks are a helpful signal, not a full compliance report. For detailed accessibility reviews, you still need additional testing and tools beyond this color-focused page.

Practical tips for better palettes

Start each session by thinking about where the palette will live: UI, print, data charts, or marketing. Use Monochromatic or Analogous schemes for subtle, layered interfaces, and pick Complementary or Triadic when you need stronger accents or call‑to‑action buttons. Keep an eye on contrast samples every time you promote a palette from “idea” to “ready for production.”

Use the Save feature to keep variations grouped by project. For example, save one palette for light mode, another for dark mode, and a third for marketing images. When you hand off work to developers, generate both CSS and JSON exports so they can choose the format that fits their stack, while you keep the HEX and HSL values handy in Color Palette Generator for ongoing tweaks.