Explore Color Harmonies on the Wheel Interactive color wheel with five harmony types and visual selection.

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Color Harmony Wheel

Interactive color wheel with five harmony types and visual selection.

Choose Harmony Type

Select complementary, triadic, tetradic, analogous, or split-complementary.

Click the Wheel

Click on the color wheel to set your base hue, or use the slider.

Explore & Copy

See harmony colors visualized on the wheel and copy the palette.

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What Is Color Harmony Wheel?

The Color Harmony Wheel is an interactive tool that combines a visual color wheel with five classic color harmony rules. Select a harmony type and click on the wheel (or use sliders) to see how colors relate to each other in that scheme. The harmony lines and dots overlay directly on the wheel, making abstract color theory concepts visually intuitive. You can see at a glance how complementary colors sit across from each other, how triadic colors form equilateral triangles, and how analogous colors cluster together. This is both a practical tool for generating harmonious palettes and an educational resource for understanding color theory. The wheel renders using Canvas API, showing the full hue spectrum with your chosen saturation and lightness, with interactive harmony points overlaid.

Why Use Color Harmony Wheel?

Five harmony types in one interactive tool
Visual harmony lines on the color wheel for intuitive understanding
Click-to-select interaction on the wheel for natural color exploration
Adjustable saturation and lightness affect all harmony colors simultaneously
Combines education and practical palette generation

Common Use Cases

Color Theory Education

Visualize how different harmony rules create relationships on the color wheel.

Quick Palette Generation

Generate any type of harmonious palette with a few clicks.

Design Exploration

Experiment with different harmonies by switching types and rotating the wheel.

Client Presentations

Show clients why certain color combinations work by demonstrating harmony rules visually.

Technical Guide

The wheel is rendered on an HTML5 Canvas element using polar coordinates. For each angle (0–359°), a pie slice is drawn using arc() with the corresponding HSL color. The harmony points are calculated based on the selected harmony type: complementary adds 180°, triadic adds 120° and 240°, tetradic adds 90°/180°/270°, analogous adds ±30°, and split-complementary adds 150° and 210°. Harmony lines connect the points, and dots mark each color position. The wheel responds to click events by converting Cartesian mouse coordinates to polar angle: angle = atan2(y - cy, x - cx), converted from radians to degrees with a 90° offset (since hue 0° is at the top). The saturation and lightness sliders affect the entire wheel rendering and all harmony calculations simultaneously.

Tips & Best Practices

1
Click directly on the wheel for the most natural color selection experience
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Try the same base hue with different harmonies to see how the palette changes
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Reduce saturation for more professional, muted palettes suitable for corporate designs
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Use the wheel to explain color theory concepts to team members or clients
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Analogous harmonies cluster together; complementary harmonies span the wheel — notice the pattern

Related Tools

Complementary Color Generator

Generate complementary color pairs with light and dark variations.

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Triadic Color Scheme

Generate triadic color schemes with three colors 120° apart on the wheel.

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Split-Complementary Scheme

Generate split-complementary palettes with adjustable split angle.

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Analogous Color Scheme

Generate analogous color palettes with adjustable angle and count.

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Tetradic Color Scheme

Generate tetradic (rectangular) color schemes with four colors 90° apart.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q What is color harmony?

Color harmony refers to aesthetically pleasing arrangements of colors based on their positions on the color wheel. Harmonious colors follow geometric patterns (opposite, triangle, square, etc.) that create visual balance.

Q What harmony type should I choose?

Analogous for calm, cohesive designs. Complementary for high contrast. Triadic for vibrant variety. Split-complementary for contrast with less tension. Tetradic for rich, complex palettes.

Q Can I click on the wheel to pick colors?

Yes! Click anywhere on the wheel to set the base hue. The harmony points will automatically adjust to show the related colors based on the selected harmony type.

About This Tool

Color Harmony Wheel is a free online tool by FreeToolkit.ai. All processing happens directly in your browser — your data never leaves your device. No registration or installation required.