Free Image Color Palette Extractor

Figma

1. Extract palette here, copy each hex code.
2. In Figma, click the color picker on a fill, paste the hex into the hex field. Save as a Style for re-use across the file.
3. For full design system: build a Color Tokens page with each extracted color as a Style and assign roles (primary, secondary, accent, etc.).

Tailwind CSS

1. Extract palette, copy hex codes.
2. In tailwind.config.js, extend theme.colors with named tokens: brand-primary: "#623ce7", brand-accent: "#3d1d9e", etc.
3. Use across components as bg-brand-primary, text-brand-accent. The extracted palette becomes a typed palette in your codebase.

WordPress / Webflow / Shopify themes

1. Extract palette, paste hex codes into theme color settings (each platform has a Theme Customizer).
2. Most modern themes have 4-6 color slots: Primary, Secondary, Accent, Background, Text. Map your extracted palette to these.
3. Save and publish; verify visual consistency across templates.

Adobe Color / Coolors

1. Extract palette here as a starting point.
2. Paste each hex into Adobe Color or Coolors to refine: adjust hue/saturation, generate complementary or analogous variants, lock the final palette.
3. Export the refined palette in your preferred format (ASE, CSS, JSON).

Print design (Illustrator, InDesign)

1. Extract palette here for screen reference.
2. Convert each hex to CMYK using your preferred conversion tool (Adobe Color does this). Hex is RGB; print uses CMYK and the conversion is approximate.
3. For brand-critical print colors, use Pantone references; the extracted palette is the starting point, not final.

URL fetch fails with "Failed to fetch image"

Cause: CDN blocks cross-origin requests, or the URL requires authentication.

Fix: Save the image to your device, then use the Upload tab. Or copy the image URL from a source that allows hot-linking (most public CDNs like Unsplash do).

Output palette looks washed out or muddy

Cause: Source image has heavy compression, low resolution, or muted overall tones.

Fix: Use a higher-resolution version of the image. The algorithm samples pixel colors directly — quality in, quality out.

Two colors in the palette look almost identical

Cause: Image has many similar shades clustering close together.

Fix: For palette work, manually combine the similar colors and find a fresh accent color elsewhere. Or run a different reference image with more color variety.

Upload fails with "invalid file type"

Cause: File is HEIC (iPhone), AVIF on unsupported browser, or has wrong extension.

Fix: Convert to JPEG or PNG with any free converter. Confirm the file extension matches the actual format (sometimes Photoshop saves with wrong extension).

Returned hex codes feel "off" for branding

Cause: Algorithm extracts dominant pixel clusters, which may not match what feels brand-correct.

Fix: Treat output as a starting point. Tweak hue/saturation in a design tool (Figma, Adobe Color, Coolors) to refine into systematic brand colors. Extraction is inspiration, not final.

Same image gives different palettes across runs

Cause: Algorithm involves randomized sampling for speed; results vary slightly.

Fix: Run 2-3 times and average the results, or pick the run that best matches your visual sense. Differences are usually minor (10-20 hex points).

Palette includes a single color that does not appear in the image

Cause: Edge effects from algorithm or noisy image regions.

Fix: Drop the outlier; it is rarely useful for design. Re-run for a cleaner palette, or pick the 4 good colors and discard the fifth.

Tool times out on a very large image

Cause: Image over 10MB triggers slower processing.

Fix: Resize or compress the image first (use our Image Compressor). Palettes are extracted from sampled pixels, so a 1MB version gives identical results to the 10MB original.