Color Palette Generator

Generate beautiful color palettes for your design projects. Get hex, RGB, and HSL values.

About this calculator

Pick a base colour and a palette type (monochromatic, complementary, analogous, triadic or split) and get hex, RGB and HSL values.

Pairing colours by wheel position is faster and safer than guessing.

How to use it

  1. Pick the base colour.
  2. Choose the harmony type.
  3. Copy the swatches.

Colour harmonies

Colour harmonies are fixed positions on the colour wheel. Complementary: opposite hues (180° apart). Analogous: neighbours (±30°). Triadic: three hues 120° apart. Split-complementary: the base plus the two neighbours of its complement. Tetradic: two complementary pairs. Monochromatic: one hue in several lightness steps.

Worked example

Base hue 210° (blue)

Complementary210° and 30° (blue and orange)
Analogous180°, 210°, 240°
Triadic210°, 330°, 90°
Split complementary210°, 0°, 60°

Tips and common mistakes

  • Use the 60-30-10 rule: 60% neutral, 30% secondary, 10% accent.
  • Reduce saturation of large areas.
  • Check text contrast.
  • Limit your palette to 3 to 5 colours.
  • Save tokens as CSS variables.

Frequently asked questions

What is a colour scheme?

A set of colours that work well together.

What is a complementary colour?

The colour opposite on the wheel.

What is the 60-30-10 rule?

A balance: 60% dominant, 30% secondary, 10% accent.

How many colours should a brand use?

Typically 3 to 5.

What is analogous?

Neighbouring colours, calm and harmonious.

Can I get hex codes?

Yes, each swatch shows it.

Related tools