Extract Color Palettes from Any Image Extract a full color palette with dominant and accent colors from any uploaded image.
Color Palette Extractor
Extract a full color palette with dominant and accent colors from any uploaded image.
Upload Image
Drop or browse for any image file (JPEG, PNG, WebP).
Extract Colors
Dominant colors are automatically extracted and displayed.
Copy Colors
Copy individual colors or the entire extracted palette.
What Is Color Palette Extractor?
An image color extractor analyzes uploaded images using the HTML5 Canvas API to identify and extract the most dominant colors. The tool reads pixel data from the image, groups similar colors using quantization, and presents the most prominent colors as a palette of HEX codes. This is invaluable for designers who want to create color schemes inspired by photographs, build website themes that match product imagery, or extract exact colors from logos and screenshots. The extraction process runs entirely in your browser — no images are uploaded to any server. You can control how many colors to extract (4–16) and the algorithm filters out overly similar colors to ensure a diverse, usable palette.
Why Use Color Palette Extractor?
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Browser-based extraction — images never leave your device
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Adjustable color count from 4 to 16 for any palette size
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Smart deduplication filters overly similar colors
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Image preview alongside extracted palette strip
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Copy individual colors or the full palette
Common Use Cases
Photo-Based Design
Extract colors from hero images to create matching website themes.
Brand Color Discovery
Pull exact colors from logos and brand assets.
Mood Board Creation
Turn inspiration images into color palettes for mood boards.
Art Analysis
Analyze the color composition of paintings, illustrations, or photographs.
Technical Guide
The extractor uses Canvas API to read pixel data from uploaded images. The image is scaled down to 200×200 maximum for performance, then each pixel is quantized by rounding RGB values to the nearest multiple of 16. This grouping clusters similar colors together. The quantized colors are counted by frequency, sorted from most to least common, and filtered to remove colors that are too similar (Euclidean distance < 60 in RGB space). This approach is a simplified version of the median cut algorithm. The Canvas getImageData() method provides RGBA values for every pixel, which are processed entirely in JavaScript. Larger images are scaled down because color extraction quality does not significantly improve beyond ~200px resolution for palette purposes, and smaller images process much faster.
Tips & Best Practices
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1For best results, use images with distinct color areas rather than gradients
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2Increase the color count for images with many distinct colors
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3Photos with a clear subject against a contrasting background extract the best palettes
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4Try extracting from different photos of the same subject to find consistent brand colors
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5Use extracted colors as starting points and refine with other color tools
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🎨 Color ToolsFrequently Asked Questions
Q Is my image uploaded to a server?
Q What image formats are supported?
Q Why are some colors different from what I see in the image?
About This Tool
Color Palette Extractor 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.