Color Palette Generator
Generate color palettes
What Is This Tool?
The Color Palette Generator builds a 5-color palette from a single base color using hue rotation and lightness variation in the HSL color model. Choose from Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, or Triadic schemes to explore color combinations for design work.
How to Use
Pick a base color using the color picker or type a HEX value.
Choose a palette type: Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, or Triadic.
Click Generate to see 5 swatches, then copy any individual hex value or all of them at once.
Features
- Four palette schemes: Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, Triadic
- Computed via precise HSL hue rotation and lightness math
- Native color picker synced with the HEX input
- Per-swatch copy buttons plus Copy All
- Friendly validation for invalid HEX values
- 100% client-side — nothing leaves your browser
Examples
Base: #3b82f6, Type: Analogous
Output: Five blues spanning hues 30 degrees on either side of the base hue at the same saturation and lightness.
Common Use Cases
- Building a color scheme for a brand or design system
- Finding complementary or triadic accent colors for a UI
- Generating tints and shades of a single brand color
- Exploring color harmony options before finalizing a palette
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Monochromatic and the other schemes?
Monochromatic keeps the same hue and only varies lightness, producing tints and shades of one color, while Analogous, Complementary, and Triadic all rotate the hue to introduce different colors into the palette.
How is Complementary calculated?
It takes the base hue and the hue 180 degrees opposite on the color wheel, then fills out the remaining three swatches with lightness/saturation variants of those two hues.
How is Triadic calculated?
It uses three hues spaced 120 degrees apart around the color wheel (the base, base+120, base+240), plus two additional tint/shade variants of the base color to complete the 5-swatch palette.
Can I use a full 6-digit or shorthand 3-digit HEX code?
Yes, both formats are accepted, in upper or lower case, with or without the leading #.
Is my color data sent anywhere?
No. All palette math happens locally in JavaScript in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or logged.
Can I copy all the generated colors at once?
Yes, click "Copy All" to copy a newline-separated list of all five HEX values to your clipboard.