Extract Color Palettes from Any Image Automatically extract the dominant colors and color palette from any image.

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Image Color Extractor

Automatically extract the dominant colors and color palette from any image.

Upload Your Image

Drop or select an image to extract colors from.

Set Palette Size

Choose how many dominant colors to extract (3 to 20).

Extract and Copy

Click Extract Colors to get the palette, then click any color to copy its HEX value.

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What Is Image Color Extractor?

An image color extractor analyzes an image and automatically identifies its most prominent colors, creating a beautiful color palette. Unlike a color picker where you manually click individual pixels, the extractor scans the entire image and groups similar colors together, ranking them by prevalence. You choose how many colors to extract, and the tool displays each with its HEX value and image coverage percentage. The visual palette bar shows proportions, making it easy to see the overall color composition.

Why Use Image Color Extractor?

Automatic extraction — no manual color picking needed
Adjustable palette size from 3 to 20 colors
Visual palette bar shows color proportions
One-click copy for individual colors or entire palette

Common Use Cases

Color Scheme Creation

Generate harmonious color palettes from photographs for web design or branding.

Brand Analysis

Analyze competitor logos and marketing materials to understand their color strategy.

Art Reference

Extract color palettes from paintings, illustrations, or design inspiration images.

CSS Theme Generation

Create CSS color variables based on dominant colors from a brand image.

Technical Guide

Color extraction uses a color quantization algorithm on canvas pixel data. The image is scaled down to a maximum of 150x150 pixels for performance, then pixels are read using getImageData. Colors are quantized by rounding each channel to the nearest multiple of 16, then counted using a hash map. Transparent pixels are excluded. The most frequent quantized colors are sorted by count and the top N returned. Each color percentage is calculated as its pixel count divided by total non-transparent pixels.

Tips & Best Practices

1
Use 5-8 colors for a balanced, usable color palette
2
Photos with distinct color areas produce more useful palettes
3
Click any color swatch to copy its HEX value to clipboard
4
Use the Copy Palette button to get all colors comma-separated

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q How are dominant colors determined?

Colors are quantized and counted. The most frequently occurring quantized colors are selected.

Q Why don't the colors exactly match pixels?

Colors are quantized for grouping similar shades. Displayed colors represent color groups, not exact pixel values.

Q Can I extract more than 20 colors?

The slider goes up to 20. For most use cases, 5-10 colors provide the most useful palette.

Q Does image size affect results?

The image is automatically scaled down for processing. Large images produce similar results to smaller ones.

Q Can I extract colors from transparent images?

Yes, transparent pixels are excluded and only visible colors are extracted.

About This Tool

Image Color 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.