Color Palette Generator
Generate color palettes with harmonies — complementary, analogous, triadic, monochrome
How to Use the Color Palette Generator
- Pick a base color or click Random.
- Choose a color harmony (monochrome, analogous, triadic, etc.).
- Set the number of colors.
- Click Generate. Click any swatch to copy its hex value.
What is Color Palette Generator?
The Color Palette Generator creates harmonious, accessible color schemes based on color theory principles, including complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, and monochromatic relationships. It outputs HEX, RGB, and HSL values, calculates WCAG contrast ratios, and provides one-click export for CSS variables and Tailwind palettes.
Common Uses
- Designing harmonious brand color schemes and UI component color themes
- Verifying text-to-background contrast ratios against WCAG 2.1 AA/AAA accessibility standards
- Generating modern CSS custom property variables for web design systems
- Creating complementary accent colors for charts, dashboards, and visualizations
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes a color palette accessible (WCAG)?
WCAG 2.1 requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal body text and 3:1 for large text (18pt+) against its background to achieve Level AA compliance, ensuring readability for visually impaired users.
What is an analogous color palette?
Analogous color palettes use colors that sit adjacent to each other on the 360-degree color wheel (such as blue, blue-green, and green), creating natural, cohesive, and serene visual designs.
Can I export my color palette directly to CSS?
Yes. You can copy the generated palette as standard CSS custom properties (`:root { --primary: #...; }`) or as a JSON color map for Tailwind CSS configurations.
Notes from this implementation
A palette is a set of relationships
The generator builds a small set of colors from a seed: a base, and companions at fixed hue offsets (complement, analogous, or the set the form names). The hex values are deterministic for a seed. They are not a brand system. Contrast against white or black is the check the page should help you make, because a palette that looks fine on a dark screenshot can fail as body text.
Copy the hex into the color converter if you need hsl() for a stylesheet. Generating again with a new seed replaces the set. Nothing is stored on a server. If you want the same palette next week, keep the seed and the hex list.