Color Palette Generator
Generate beautiful and accessible color palettes from a base color using HSL adjustments. Ideal for UI design and development.
Generated Palette
About Color Harmonies
Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, creating high contrast and vibrant looks when used together.
About Color Palette Generator
A Color Palette Generator is an intelligent design tool that creates harmonious color schemes from a single base color using HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) adjustments. This tool automatically generates complementary, analogous, triadic, and other color harmony schemes that work well together in design projects.
Why use a Color Palette Generator?
Using a Color Palette Generator saves hours of manual color selection and ensures professional-looking color combinations that follow established color theory principles. It eliminates guesswork in color selection and provides multiple palette options that maintain visual harmony and accessibility standards across your design projects.
Who is it for?
This tool is perfect for UI/UX designers creating interface color schemes, web developers building cohesive brand experiences, graphic designers working on visual identity projects, digital artists exploring color relationships, and anyone who needs to create professional, harmonious color palettes quickly and efficiently.
How to use the tool
Enter or select your base color using the color picker or HEX/RGB input
Choose your desired color harmony type (complementary, analogous, triadic, etc.)
Adjust the palette size and variations using the available controls
Preview the generated palette and export colors in your preferred format (HEX, RGB, HSL)
Copy individual colors or the entire palette for use in your design projects
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I generate a colour palette?
Enter a base colour (HEX, RGB, or named) and choose a palette type — complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, monochromatic, split-complementary. The tool generates the matching colours based on colour theory relationships on the colour wheel. Copy individual colours as HEX/RGB/HSL or export the full palette as CSS variables, JSON, or a Tailwind config snippet. Generation runs entirely in your browser — your colour values never leave the device.
What palette types are available?
Six standard schemes from colour theory. (1) Complementary: two colours opposite on the wheel — high contrast, energetic. (2) Analogous: 3-5 colours adjacent on the wheel — harmonious, low contrast. (3) Triadic: three colours evenly spaced (120° apart) — vibrant, balanced. (4) Tetradic / square: four colours evenly spaced — rich and varied. (5) Split-complementary: base colour plus two adjacent to its complement — balanced but less harsh than complementary. (6) Monochromatic: variations of one colour at different lightnesses — see [Monochromatic Palette Generator](/tools/monochromatic-palette-generator/) for the dedicated tool.
Can I export palettes to CSS or Tailwind?
Yes — export options typically include: CSS custom properties (`--color-primary: #FF6347;`), Sass / SCSS variables (`$color-primary: #FF6347;`), Tailwind CSS config (`theme.extend.colors.primary: '#FF6347'`), JSON for design tokens, and image swatch for sharing. Copy the snippet directly into your codebase. For design tools (Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD), copy individual HEX values and paste into the colour picker.
How do I create an accessible palette?
Accessibility focuses on contrast between foreground (text) and background colours. WCAG 2.2 requires 4.5:1 contrast for normal text, 3:1 for large text. Test pairs of palette colours with [CSS Color Converter](/tools/css-color-converter/) or a dedicated contrast checker. For accessible palettes: ensure dark text reads on light backgrounds (and vice versa) at 4.5:1+. Avoid colour-only differentiation (relying on red vs green for meaning) — pair with shape, icons, or text labels for [Color Blindness Simulator](/tools/color-blindness-simulator/) test scenarios.
What's the difference between complementary and analogous palettes?
Complementary uses two colours from opposite sides of the colour wheel (e.g. blue + orange) — maximum hue contrast, energetic and attention-grabbing. Useful for accent vs background, CTAs vs body. Risk: can feel harsh if both used at full saturation. Analogous uses 3-5 colours from adjacent positions on the wheel (e.g. blue, blue-green, green) — low hue contrast, harmonious and calm. Useful for cohesive brand palettes and gentle UIs. The two approaches are different design moods; pick based on the intended feel.
Can I customise the saturation and lightness?
Yes — most palette tools (including this one) let you adjust saturation and lightness ranges. For pastels: low S (30-50%), high L (75-90%). For vivid colours: high S (80-100%), mid L (40-60%). For desaturated/muted designs: low S (20-40%), mid L (40-60%). The hue relationships (complementary, analogous, triadic) determine which hues; S and L determine the mood. Experiment with sliders for the right feel.
How many colours should a palette have?
Common counts. 2-3: minimalist, brand-strong (primary + accent + neutral). 4-5: standard for most design systems (primary, secondary, accent, neutral text, neutral background). 6-8: rich design systems with multiple semantic colours (primary, secondary, accent, success, warning, error, plus neutrals). 10+: detailed design tokens, often with multiple shades of each colour (`primary-100, primary-200, ... primary-900`). Most apps work well with 5-7 distinct palette colours plus a neutral grey scale.
When should I use this vs Monochromatic Palette Generator?
Use this tool when you want hue variation (palettes spanning multiple colours from the colour wheel — complementary, triadic, etc.). Use [Monochromatic Palette Generator](/tools/monochromatic-palette-generator/) when you want shade variation of a single hue (e.g. a 9-step blue scale from `blue-50` to `blue-900` for a design system). Most full design systems use both: monochromatic scales for each semantic colour + multi-hue palette for the relationships between primary, accent, and supporting colours.
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