Color Picker & Palette Generator

Free Online Color Picker & Palette Generator

Our Color Picker is a fast, private, browser-based tool for choosing the perfect color and building a complete palette around it. Drag the picker or type any HEX value and instantly see the matching RGB and HSL codes, plus auto-generated tints, shades, and harmony palettes. Nothing is uploaded to a server — every calculation happens locally in your browser, so it is instant and completely private.

How to Use the Color Picker

• Pick visually: Click the large color swatch to open your system color wheel and drag to the shade you want.
• Type a value: Paste or type a HEX code (for example #6c63ff or the short form #6cf) into the HEX field and the tool fills in everything else.
• Copy any format: Each of the HEX, RGB, and HSL fields has a one-click Copy button so you can paste straight into your CSS, design tool, or code.
• Use the palette: Click any swatch in the Tints, Shades, Complementary, Analogous, or Triadic rows to copy its HEX value instantly.

Understanding HEX, RGB & HSL

The same color can be written three common ways, and this tool converts between all of them in real time:

• HEX — A six-digit hexadecimal code like #6c63ff. It is the most common format in CSS and design software because it is compact and unambiguous.
• RGB — Red, Green, and Blue channels from 0–255, e.g. rgb(108, 99, 255). Useful when you need to fine-tune individual channels or work with rgba() transparency.
• HSL — Hue (0–360°), Saturation (%), and Lightness (%), e.g. hsl(244, 100%, 69%). HSL is the most intuitive model for humans: change lightness to get tints and shades, or rotate the hue to find harmonious colors.

Color Palettes Explained

Great design rarely uses a single color. This tool builds five palette types from your base color using proven color-theory rules:

• Tints — Your color mixed toward white. Perfect for hover states, backgrounds, and disabled UI elements.
• Shades — Your color mixed toward black. Ideal for text, borders, shadows, and pressed button states.
• Complementary — The color directly opposite on the color wheel (hue + 180°). It creates high contrast and is great for call-to-action buttons.
• Analogous — The two neighbors on the wheel (hue ± 30°). These sit naturally together and produce calm, cohesive designs.
• Triadic — Three colors evenly spaced around the wheel (120° apart). A balanced, vibrant scheme popular in branding and illustration.

Tips for Web & Accessibility

• Use shades for body text on light backgrounds and tints for text on dark backgrounds to keep contrast comfortable.
• Aim for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 between text and its background to meet WCAG AA accessibility guidelines.
• Pick one base color, one complementary accent, and a few neutral tints/shades — that is usually all a clean interface needs.
• HSL makes building a consistent scale easy: keep the same hue and saturation, and step the lightness in even increments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this color picker free?

Yes. It is completely free with no sign-up, no watermarks, and no limits on how many colors you convert or copy.

Are my colors sent anywhere?

No. All conversions and palette calculations run entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded or stored.

Can I convert HEX to RGB and HSL at the same time?

Yes — enter any one format and the other two update instantly, so it doubles as a HEX-to-RGB and HEX-to-HSL converter.

What is the difference between a tint and a shade?

A tint is a color made lighter by adding white; a shade is the same color made darker by adding black. Both keep the original hue.