Images · Colour Palette

Get a colour palette from an image on Mac

Pull the main colours from an image as a swatch card, CSS variables and an Adobe palette.

Runs on your Mac

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Colour Palette in OneMacTools on a Mac, with sample files and its options

Colour Palette on a Mac

Colour Palette in OneMacTools with sample files loaded and the options panel open — Colour Palette with sample files and its options

The result of Colour Palette on the sample files — What Colour Palette produced from the sample files

Screenshots from the app, using sample files.

How to use Colour Palette

1
Drop an image
A photo, logo, artwork or screenshot. You can add several, and each gets its own palette.
2
Choose how many colours
5 for a simple scheme, 8 for a fuller one, or 12 to capture more variety.
3
Choose the extras
Keep CSS variables for your website and the Adobe palette (.ase) for Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, or turn them off.
4
Click Extract
The colours appear in the app as hex codes, most common first, and are saved as a swatch card.
5
Use the files
The swatch card PNG, CSS file and .ase file are saved in a new dated folder in Downloads › OneMacTools. Open them with the Preview (eye) button or Show in Finder.

What Colour Palette does

OneMacTools finds the main colours in an image, most common first, and saves a swatch card with hex codes. Optionally save CSS custom properties for your website and an Adobe Swatch Exchange (.ase) file for Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

Great for

Build a website palette from a brand photo
Match colours for a presentation
Share a moodboard's colours with a designer

Options explained

Colours: 5, 8 (the default) or 12. The most common colours come first. Very similar colours are merged, so a simple image may give you fewer than you asked for.
Also save CSS variables: On by default. Saves a .css file with each colour as a custom property, from --palette-1 to the last, ready to paste into your stylesheet.
Also save an Adobe palette (.ase): On by default. Saves an Adobe Swatch Exchange file you can load into the Swatches panel of Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign.

Best practices

Crop to the part you care about first. A big sky or plain wall will dominate the palette.
Ask for more colours than you need, then pick the ones that work together. The most common colours aren't always the most striking.
Check text and background pairs for contrast before using them on a website. A palette from a photo isn't designed for readability.
To grab a single exact colour from your screen, use Colour Picker instead.

Works with

In: Photos, logos, artwork and screenshots in any format macOS can open.
Out: A PNG swatch card with hex codes, plus an optional .css file and an optional .ase Adobe palette.

The image is scaled down before the colours are found, so small details and thin lines have little effect on the result.

Questions about Colour Palette

How do I get the colour palette from an image?

Drop the image onto Colour Palette, choose 5, 8 or 12 colours and click Extract. You get the hex codes, a swatch card, CSS variables and an Adobe palette.

How do I use the colours in my website?

Open the .css file and copy the :root block into your stylesheet. Then use var(--palette-1) and so on wherever you need a colour.

How do I import the palette into Photoshop or Illustrator?

Open the Swatches panel, choose Import Swatches or Open Swatch Library › Other Library, and pick the .ase file.

Why did I get fewer colours than I chose?

Colours that are almost the same are merged so the palette doesn't repeat itself. An image with few distinct colours gives a shorter palette.

What order are the colours in?

Most common first, so the first colour covers the largest part of the image.

Does Colour Palette upload my files?

No. Colour Palette runs entirely on your Mac, so your files never leave it and it works offline.

Will Colour Palette change my original files?

No. Results are saved as new files in a dated folder in Downloads › OneMacTools, and your originals are left exactly as they were unless you turn on an option that says otherwise.

What does Colour Palette need?

Just a Mac with macOS 26 or later. There's nothing else to install.