Choosing a color scheme for a website or project can be a stressful task. Regardless of whether the project is new or old, we all want to put our best foot forward and make our website or page looks as eye-catching as possible.
This is why having a color palette generator can be a massive benefit to you and your project or business. This article looks to provide you with ten great color palette generators that you can utilize to help make your work stand out.
Some of them are paid, but many are free and will only require you to create an account. But before we jump in, let’s take a look at what exactly a color palette generator is and what different colors can signify about your product subliminally.
A color palette is a collection of colors and shades used by an artist or designer. In-home design, the term “color palette” refers to all the fabric, paint and other colors used in a room.
In graphic design and branding, the term is most often used to refer to the precise shades of colors that make up a brand’s identity.
“Color palette” is sometimes used interchangeably with the words theme and scheme. They’re all referencing the same thing: a collection of colors.
| Color | What it can represent |
| Red | Red is a strong color, so often it represents strong emotions like power, love and energy. It can also represent danger, though, so be aware of that. |
| Green | Green is an earthly color that signifies nature and health. |
| Yellow | Yellow is typically a very fun color that gives off an air of playfulness and friendliness. The color yellow as a part of your website will signify a fun and cheerful side. |
| Blue | Blue is a color that is often associated with calmness and composure. Similarly, it can be associated with trust and loyalty, so with that in mind, it can be a good color to use if you are looking to build a reputation as a trustworthy brand or website. |
| Black | Black is a popular choice with more modern websites, and it is a great way of showing elegance, power, and prestige, particularly if paired with white, silver or gold. |
| White | Timeless, elegant, and clean. The color white gives your site/brand a more professional and cleaner look. |
Best Color Palette Generators
Coolors
There is a lot to like about Coolors. You are given massive scope to create your own unique color palette from your head or even from a specific image. It is a free palette generator that can be used in various ways, from the internet to adobe and chrome extensions, to iOS and Android compatible apps. The choice is endless. It is really nice that you can use the tools for free and on the go, and their library of colors is comprehensive.
Adobe Colour CC
Yet another free tool, Adobe Color, is a comprehensive generator that lets you extract colors from saved images and create unique gradient palettes. You can even work with their shades in such a way that their site is more accessible for colorblind people or people with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. I enjoy this tool because there is also a mode that allows you to test background text on your chosen color. This will tell you if your background is optimized for the text on your site.
BrandColours
If you are looking to give your site/brand a little touch-up, then Brand Colors is a great tool to use. It is not as comprehensive as other programs or palette generators, but it does give its users the color schemes for some of the top companies in the world. So it gives users a good indication of what schemes work, and what schemes may not work.
Colormind
Colormind is one of the most beginner-friendly color palette generators on the market. It includes a cool feature that allows you to preview your color palette applied to an example design. It also lets you choose between material and paper color designs and the ability to switch between website and template designs. In addition to generating color palettes with just one-click, Colormind lets you create color palettes from images as well.
Paletton
Paletton could do with being a little more user-friendly, but it is still a comprehensive software that is great for designing a unique color scheme for your website. Best suited to the more advanced designer, Paletton is great for those looking to experiment.
Canva
Canva is one of the most popular generators in the world. In saying that, its offerings are quite basic; however, the tool is simple. All you need to do is upload a photo or an image to the site, and the tool automatically generates a color palette based on the main colors from the image. Then you can copy the color codes with just a single click.
Colllor
Colllor is yet another simple color palette generator that offers a simpler experience in creating color palettes. Select main and secondary colors, and it will generate a selection of color palettes for you to choose from and customize. The only downside to using this tool is that it requires Flash to be enabled in your browser.
ColorHexa
ColorHexa prides itself on being a “color encyclopedia”, and it does this well. You can generate palettes via various methods, including gradient generation, color blending, and color subtraction. You can also enter any color code in any form and get all of its code translations, besides palette suggestions based on the color. It also helps you to learn about what colors work best with different fonts and on different sites. It is a handy tool.
Colordot & Colourcode
Both of these sites complete the list and get honorable mentions simply for their ease of use. Colorcode is so easy to use, there is barely any interface to interact with; move your cursor, and you will get a host of different color options. Colordot has the same unique interface and works the same way, like moving up and down for color brightness and sideways for hue. Once you like the color you have, just click save, and it will be added to your palette. It’s that easy.
FAQs
Are Color Palette generators expensive?
It depends on what type of program you are looking for. Many color palette generators are free, but some can be quite expensive. However, these premium programs will usually come with many added benefits.
Are there any free color palette generators?
Yes, there is a range of color palette generators on the market that are free to use. Some of the more popular ones include Color Hunt. Color Lovers and Brand Colors.
What are color palettes used for?
This all depends on what you need to use them for, to be honest. As a general rule, you would use a color palette for web design functions such as creating a website or adding some color to an existing site to attract customers.
How are color palettes used in web design?
To put it scientifically, a color palette generator uses classical color theory with an ancient artistic RYB color wheel to design color palettes of one to four hues, each of five different shades. Various preview styles can then be chosen to test and view the colors in combinations; many examples are available to see the palette used in website design, UI design or in a randomly drawn picture, so you will always be spoiled for choice.
What is a color scheme on a website?
A website color scheme is the combination of all the colors and shades used throughout a website — be it the color of the background image, navigation menu, written content, or even smaller icons and buttons. If a website has a nice color scheme, it will likely be attractive to more people and will draw more customers in.
