About the Color Palette Generator
Pick a seed colour and a colour-theory scheme, and this tool computes a matching palette by rotating hue or adjusting lightness in HSL space. It covers the classic schemes — complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, split-complementary and monochromatic — plus a nine-step shades-and-tints ramp for building UI colour scales.
How to use it
- 01Enter a seed colour as hex, rgb(), hsl() or a named colour.
- 02Choose a scheme from the dropdown.
- 03Review the generated swatches, each labelled with its hex value.
- 04Copy an individual swatch, copy the whole palette as CSS custom properties, or download it as JSON.
Features
- Six classic colour-theory schemes plus a 9-step shades/tints ramp.
- Per-swatch hex display and copy button.
- One-click copy of the full palette as CSS :root custom properties.
- JSON download for use in design tools or code.
Practical examples
Brand exploration
Start from a client's primary brand colour and generate a triadic palette to propose accent colours.
UI colour scale
Use the shades/tints ramp to build a 9-step grey-to-black or brand-colour scale for buttons and backgrounds.
Limitations
- Schemes are computed purely from hue/lightness rotation in HSL space; they do not account for perceptual colour models like CIELAB, so spacing may not look perfectly even to the eye.
- Monochromatic and ramp modes fix saturation to the seed's saturation, which can produce muted results for very desaturated seeds.
Privacy
All colour calculations happen locally in your browser; no seed colours or palettes are sent anywhere.
Read the full privacy policy for how the site as a whole handles data.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between monochromatic and the shades/tints ramp?
Monochromatic gives five evenly spaced lightness variants of the same hue; the ramp gives nine steps intended for a full UI colour scale.
Can I use named colours as the seed?
Yes, any format accepted by the HEX/RGB/HSL converter also works here.
How is the CSS export formatted?
As a :root block with --color-1, --color-2, etc. custom properties, ready to paste into a stylesheet.
Does the JSON download include more than hex values?
Currently it exports an array of hex strings in palette order; use the converter for full RGB/HSL breakdowns of any swatch.