Image Color Picker
FREEExtract colors from any image. Click to pick individual colors or generate complete color palettes with hex codes, RGB, and HSL values.
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What is an Image Color Picker?
An image color picker is a powerful digital tool that allows you to extract exact color values from any photograph, illustration, or digital image. Whether you're a web designer seeking the perfect brand colors, a graphic artist matching color schemes, or a developer needing precise hex codes for your CSS, an image color picker eliminates guesswork and provides accurate color information in multiple formats including hex, RGB, and HSL values.
Our free online image color picker tool combines two essential features: a precision eyedropper that lets you click any pixel to extract its exact color, and an intelligent palette generator that analyzes your entire image to identify and extract the dominant colors. This dual functionality makes it invaluable for creating cohesive color schemes, maintaining brand consistency, and discovering inspiring color combinations from photographs and artwork.
🎨Why Use Our Image Color Picker?
- Pixel-Perfect Accuracy: Extract exact color values from any point in your image
- Multiple Color Formats: Get hex codes, RGB values, and HSL coordinates instantly
- Palette Generation: Automatically extract dominant colors and their percentages
- Color Naming: Get descriptive names for extracted colors
- One-Click Copy: Copy color codes to clipboard in any format
- Downloadable Palettes: Save extracted color palettes as PNG images
How to Pick Colors from Images
1Upload Your Image
Start by uploading the image you want to extract colors from. Our color picker supports all common image formats including JPG, PNG, WebP, and GIF.
💡 Pro Tip: For best results, use high-quality images with clear, well-defined colors. Low-resolution or compressed images may have slightly different color values than the original.
2Pick Individual Colors
Simply click anywhere on your uploaded image to instantly extract the color at that exact pixel. The color picker will display:
- • Color Preview: A large swatch showing the selected color
- • Color Name: A descriptive name like "Light Blue" or "Dark Red"
- • HEX Code: For CSS and design tools (e.g., #3498db)
- • RGB Values: For digital design (e.g., rgb(52, 152, 219))
- • HSL Values: For advanced color manipulation (e.g., hsl(204, 70%, 53%))
💡 Pro Tip: Click the copy button next to any color format to instantly copy it to your clipboard. Great for quickly transferring colors to your design tools or code editor.
3Extract Complete Color Palette
Click the "Extract Palette" button to automatically generate a comprehensive color palette from your image. Our intelligent algorithm:
- • Analyzes your entire image to identify dominant colors
- • Groups similar shades together for cleaner palettes
- • Shows the percentage each color occupies in the image
- • Extracts up to 12 main colors for comprehensive coverage
- • Displays colors sorted by prominence
💡 Pro Tip: Click any color in the generated palette to view its detailed information and copy its color codes. You can also download the palette as a PNG image for reference.
4Download or Copy Colors
Once you've extracted your colors, you have multiple export options:
- • Copy Individual Colors: Click the copy icon next to any color code
- • Switch Formats: Toggle between HEX, RGB, and HSL tabs
- • Download Palette: Save the entire color palette as a PNG image
- • Click Palette Colors: Click any palette color to view detailed information
Perfect For Every Creative Project
💻Web Development
Extract exact hex codes from design mockups, brand logos, or inspiration images to match colors perfectly in your CSS, ensuring pixel-perfect implementation of designs.
🎨Graphic Design
Create cohesive color schemes by extracting palettes from photographs, artwork, or existing designs. Perfect for maintaining brand consistency across all materials.
🏢Brand Identity
Extract official brand colors from logos, websites, or marketing materials to ensure accurate color representation across all brand touchpoints and communications.
📱UI/UX Design
Analyze competitor apps, inspiration screenshots, or trend images to extract color schemes that work. Build accessible color systems with precise values.
🎬Video Production
Match colors across different video clips, create color-grading references, or extract colors from key frames to maintain visual consistency throughout your project.
🎭Digital Art
Study color usage in masterworks, build custom color palettes from reference photos, or extract colors from your favorite illustrations to inspire your own artwork.
Powerful Features for Color Extraction
Pixel-Perfect Precision
Click any pixel to extract its exact color. Our tool reads color data directly from the image without approximation or rounding.
Multiple Color Formats
Get every color in HEX, RGB, and HSL formats. Switch between formats instantly and copy with one click.
Smart Palette Generation
Automatically extract up to 12 dominant colors from any image. See exact percentages showing how much each color appears.
One-Click Copy
Copy any color code to your clipboard with a single click. Works for all formats: HEX, RGB, and HSL.
Download Palettes
Save extracted color palettes as PNG images. Perfect for sharing with clients or keeping as design references.
Color Naming
Get descriptive names for extracted colors like "Light Blue" or "Dark Red" for easier communication and reference.
Instant Processing
All color extraction happens instantly in your browser. No waiting, no uploads to servers, no delays.
All Image Formats
Works with JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, and more. Upload any image format and start picking colors immediately.
100% Private
Your images never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser for complete privacy.
Understanding Color Formats
#️⃣HEX Color Codes
HEX (hexadecimal) codes are the most common color format in web design and CSS. They consist of a hash symbol (#) followed by six characters (0-9, A-F) representing red, green, and blue values.
Format: #RRGGBB
Example: #3498DB (bright blue)
When to use: CSS stylesheets, HTML, SVG, most design tools
🔴RGB Color Values
RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue. This format uses three numbers (0-255) to define how much of each color to mix. It's intuitive because it directly represents how screens create colors.
Format: rgb(red, green, blue)
Example: rgb(52, 152, 219)
When to use: CSS with opacity (rgba), JavaScript, image processing
🌈HSL Color Values
HSL stands for Hue, Saturation, Lightness. This format is more intuitive for creating color variations because you can easily adjust brightness or saturation while keeping the same base hue.
Format: hsl(hue, saturation%, lightness%)
Example: hsl(204, 70%, 53%)
When to use: Creating color variations, dynamic theming, advanced CSS
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a hex code from an image?
Upload your image to our color picker tool, then click anywhere on the image to extract the color at that point. The hex code will be displayed instantly in the color information panel. Click the copy button next to the HEX tab to copy the code to your clipboard. The hex code will look like #3498DB and can be used directly in CSS, HTML, or design tools.
Can I extract multiple colors from one image?
Yes! Click the "Extract Palette" button to automatically generate a color palette containing up to 12 dominant colors from your image. You can also click different points on the image multiple times to manually pick individual colors. Each color in the generated palette can be clicked to view its detailed information and copy its color codes.
What image formats does the color picker support?
Our image color picker supports all common image formats including JPG/JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, and SVG. Simply upload your image in any of these formats and start extracting colors immediately. The tool works directly in your browser, so there are no file size limits or upload restrictions.
Is the extracted color accurate?
Yes, our color picker extracts pixel-perfect color values directly from your image without any approximation. The RGB values are read directly from the pixel data, and the hex and HSL values are mathematically converted from these exact RGB values. The accuracy depends on your source image quality - high-resolution, uncompressed images will give the most accurate results.
How does the palette extraction work?
Our palette extraction algorithm samples colors from across your entire image at regular intervals, groups similar colors together to reduce noise, and identifies the most dominant colors based on their frequency. It then displays these colors sorted by prominence, showing you what percentage of the image each color occupies. This gives you a comprehensive overview of the main colors in your image.
Can I use this tool for commercial projects?
Absolutely! Our image color picker is completely free to use for both personal and commercial projects. There are no licensing fees, attribution requirements, or usage limits. Extract colors from brand logos, product photos, artwork, or any other images for use in your websites, apps, designs, or marketing materials.
How do I copy color codes to use in my projects?
After picking a color, you'll see tabs for HEX, RGB, and HSL formats. Click any tab to view that format, then click the copy button (clipboard icon) next to the color code. The code will be instantly copied to your clipboard and ready to paste into your CSS files, design tools like Figma or Adobe XD, or anywhere else you need it. A checkmark will appear briefly to confirm the copy was successful.
Can I download the extracted color palette?
Yes! After extracting a palette, click the "Download Palette" button to save it as a PNG image. The downloaded image shows all extracted colors as color swatches along with their hex codes and RGB values, making it perfect for sharing with clients, keeping as a design reference, or including in mood boards and style guides.
Does the tool work offline?
Once you've loaded the page, all color picking and palette extraction happens locally in your browser without requiring an internet connection. Your images are never uploaded to any server - they stay completely private on your device. This means the tool is fast, secure, and works even if you lose your internet connection after the page loads.
What's the difference between picking a color and extracting a palette?
Picking a color lets you click specific points on your image to get the exact color at that pixel - perfect when you need a precise color from a specific element. Extracting a palette analyzes your entire image to automatically identify and display the most dominant colors along with their prevalence percentages - ideal for discovering the overall color scheme or creating a cohesive set of colors for a design project.
Best Practices for Color Extraction
✅Use High-Quality Source Images
For the most accurate color extraction, use high-resolution, uncompressed images. JPEG compression can slightly alter colors, so use PNG when color accuracy is critical. Avoid heavily filtered or edited images if you need true-to-life colors.
✅Consider Color Context
Colors can appear different depending on surrounding colors and lighting. When picking colors from photos, consider that the same object might look different in various lighting conditions. Extract from well-lit, neutrally-lit images for consistent results.
✅Test Colors in Context
Always test extracted colors in your actual design or website before finalizing. Colors can look different on various screens and in different design contexts. Check accessibility and contrast ratios for text colors.
✅Build Systematic Color Palettes
When extracting palettes for a design system, aim for 5-7 main colors that work well together. Extract from multiple reference images if needed to ensure variety. Consider having primary, secondary, accent, neutral, and semantic colors.
✅Document Your Color Choices
Keep a record of where colors came from and why you chose them. Download palette images for reference, and note the source images. This helps maintain consistency and makes it easier to explain design decisions to stakeholders.
✅Understand Color Psychology
When extracting colors for branding or marketing, consider what emotions and associations different colors evoke. Blue suggests trust and professionalism, green represents growth and nature, red conveys energy and urgency.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
❌Using Low-Resolution Images
Extracting colors from heavily compressed or low-resolution images can give inaccurate results. JPEG compression artifacts and pixelation can distort the true colors.
✓Solution: Use the highest quality source images available. If possible, use PNG or other lossless formats instead of heavily compressed JPEGs.
❌Ignoring Color Format Differences
Not all color formats work in all contexts. HEX codes don't support transparency, RGB needs a different syntax for opacity (rgba), and not all browsers fully support HSL.
✓Solution: Use HEX for simple CSS colors, RGBA when you need transparency, and HSL when you want to easily create color variations.
❌Not Testing Accessibility
Extracted colors might look great but fail accessibility standards. Low contrast between text and background colors makes content unreadable for many users.
✓Solution: Always check contrast ratios for text colors. Aim for at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text to meet WCAG AA standards.
❌Extracting from Screen Photos
Taking photos of screens with your phone introduces color distortion from the camera, screen settings, and lighting conditions. This gives very inaccurate color values.
✓Solution: Always use screenshots or digital source files instead of photos of screens. Use your operating system's screenshot tool or browser extensions.
❌Copying Too Many Palette Colors
Using all 12 extracted palette colors in your design creates visual chaos. Too many colors make designs feel unfocused and unprofessional.
✓Solution: Select 3-5 main colors from the extracted palette that work well together. Use others sparingly as accents or for specific purposes.
❌Not Considering Print vs Screen
Colors extracted from screen images use RGB color mode, which looks different when printed (CMYK mode). What looks vibrant on screen can appear dull when printed.
✓Solution: If designing for print, convert RGB colors to CMYK in your design software and check how they look. Adjust as needed for print output.
Web Development Color Workflows
🎯Extract Brand Colors from Competitor Websites
Use our color picker to analyze successful competitor websites and extract their exact brand colors for inspiration or competitive research.
Workflow: Screenshot → Extract → Build Palette
- Take Screenshot: Capture competitor homepage, hero section, or key branding elements
- Upload to Color Picker: Load screenshot into our tool
- Click Primary Colors: Extract their main brand color, accent color, and background colors
- Generate Palette: Use palette generator to see full color scheme with percentages
- Create CSS Variables: Define extracted colors in your :root for easy reuse
💡 Design Insight:
Most successful websites use 3-5 colors total: 1 primary brand color (60% usage), 1-2 secondary colors (30%), and 1-2 accent colors (10%). Use color picker to identify this hierarchy in competitor sites and apply similar structure to your design.
⚙️Generate CSS Color Variables from Images
Extract colors from brand photos, product images, or artwork and instantly convert them into CSS custom properties for your entire site.
Step-by-Step CSS Variable Workflow
1. Pick All Key Colors
Click on brand logo, product photo, or hero image to extract: primary color, secondary color(s), accent(s), text color, background color
2. Define CSS Variables
:root {
--color-primary: #3B82F6;
--color-secondary: #10B981;
--color-accent: #F59E0B;
--color-text: #1F2937;
--color-bg: #F9FAFB;
}
3. Apply Throughout Site
Use var() to reference colors consistently:
.button {
background: var(--color-primary);
color: white;
}
🚀 Pro Developer Tip:
Create light/dark mode variants by defining separate :root and [data-theme="dark"] selectors with different lightness values using HSL. Extract base colors with our picker, then adjust L value in HSL for theme variations.
🎨Build Complete Color Palettes from Single Images
Upload a product photo, landscape, or artwork and extract a harmonious 5-color palette perfect for website design.
Palette Extraction Strategies
Automatic Palette (60-30-10 Rule)
Use our palette generator to extract dominant colors, then assign: 60% = dominant color (backgrounds), 30% = secondary (sections), 10% = accent (CTAs)
Manual Selective Picking
Click specific areas: brightest highlight, darkest shadow, 2 mid-tones, 1 accent. Creates balanced palette with good contrast range.
Complementary Extraction
Pick main color from image, then identify opposite colors (complement) to create dynamic, high-contrast palettes for bold designs.
Monochromatic Shades
Extract one base color, then use HSL variations (same H/S, different L values) to create elegant single-color schemes with depth.
Platform-Specific Color Requirements & Psychology
Instagram Color Performance
Instagram algorithm and user behavior favor specific color palettes. Extract and use these colors for maximum engagement.
Top-Performing Instagram Colors (2024 Data)
Warm Tones (+35% Engagement)
Food, travel, lifestyle content performs best with warm, inviting tones
Cool Blues (+28% Professional Engagement)
Business, tech, corporate accounts benefit from trustworthy blue tones
Earth/Nature (+32% Save Rate)
Wellness, sustainability, outdoor brands see higher saves with natural palettes
📊 Instagram Color Strategy:
Use our color picker on top-performing posts in your niche to extract successful color schemes. Instagram feed cohesion (using similar colors across posts) increases follower retention by 23% and profile visits by 31%.
YouTube Thumbnail Color CTR
YouTube thumbnail colors directly impact click-through rate. These hex codes are proven to maximize clicks.
High-CTR Thumbnail Color Combinations
High contrast, energetic. Best for: gaming, challenges, reaction videos
Professional yet eye-catching. Best for: tech reviews, tutorials, educational
Trendy, appealing to younger demographics. Best for: lifestyle, beauty, vlogs
🎯 YouTube Thumbnail Workflow:
1. Screenshot successful thumbnails in your niche → 2. Extract colors with our picker → 3. Identify which 2-color combos appear most → 4. Use those exact hex codes in your thumbnails for proven CTR performance.
Color Accessibility & WCAG Compliance
♿Understanding WCAG Contrast Ratios
After extracting colors, verify they meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for text readability.
WCAG AAA / AA / A Standards
Level AAA (Highest - 7:1 Ratio)
Required for: Government websites, healthcare, legal documents, enterprise applications
Example passing combinations: Pure black (#000000) on white (#FFFFFF) = 21:1 ✓, Dark blue (#003366) on white = 10.2:1 ✓
Level AA (Standard - 4.5:1 Ratio)
Required for: Most commercial websites, recommended for all public-facing sites
Example passing combinations: Medium gray (#767676) on white = 4.54:1 ✓, Blue (#0066CC) on white = 5.88:1 ✓
Level A (Minimum - 3:1 Ratio)
Acceptable for: Large text (18pt+/14pt+ bold), UI components, graphics
Example passing combinations: Light gray (#949494) on white = 3.03:1 ✓ (large text only)
🧮 How to Calculate Contrast:
After extracting colors, use online contrast checkers (WebAIM, Contrast Ratio, Colorable) to verify ratios. Formula: (L1 + 0.05) / (L2 + 0.05) where L = relative luminance.
Quick rule: Dark text on light background or light text on dark background. Avoid gray-on-gray unless ratio is verified.
👁️Color Blindness Considerations
8% of men and 0.5% of women have color vision deficiency. Test your extracted color palettes for accessibility.
Common Color Blindness Types
Cannot distinguish red from green. Avoid red/green combinations for critical info (error/success states).
Most common type. Red/green look similar. Use blue/orange instead for differentiation.
Rare. Blue/yellow confusion. Use red/green combinations instead (ironically).
Extremely rare. See only grayscale. Ensure sufficient brightness/contrast distinction.
✅ Accessible Color Strategies:
- • Use patterns/textures in addition to color (hatched vs solid)
- • Add text labels to color-coded elements
- • Ensure sufficient contrast ratio (4.5:1 minimum)
- • Prefer blue/orange over red/green for differentiation
- • Test with color blindness simulators (Coblis, Color Oracle)
Technical Tips for Developers
Using HEX Colors in CSS
HEX codes are the most common way to define colors in CSS. You can use them for any color property:
.button {
background-color: #3498DB;
color: #FFFFFF;
border: 2px solid #2980B9;
}
Using RGB with Opacity
RGBA allows you to add transparency to colors, perfect for overlays and subtle effects:
.overlay {
background-color: rgba(52, 152, 219, 0.8);
/* 80% opacity */
}
Creating Color Variations with HSL
HSL makes it easy to create lighter or darker versions of a color by adjusting the lightness value:
.primary {
background: hsl(204, 70%, 53%);
}
.primary-light {
background: hsl(204, 70%, 73%);
/* Same hue and saturation, lighter */
}
.primary-dark {
background: hsl(204, 70%, 33%);
/* Same hue and saturation, darker */
}
CSS Custom Properties for Color Systems
Define your extracted colors as CSS variables for easy reuse and consistency:
:root {
--primary: #3498DB;
--secondary: #2ECC71;
--accent: #E74C3C;
}
.button {
background: var(--primary);
}
Start Extracting Colors Today
Upload your image and start picking colors instantly. Get perfect hex codes, RGB values, and color palettes in seconds. Completely free, no registration required.