Color Palette & Picker

Color is one of the most precise design decisions you can make, yet extracting exact values from real images has always required either expensive software or an unreliable eyedropper guess. This tool solves both workflows in one place. Switch between Extract Palette mode, which analyzes every pixel and returns the six most visually distinct dominant colors with HEX and RGB codes, and Pick Colors mode, where you upload any image and click any pixel to get its exact HEX, RGB, and HSL value. Everything runs on your device using the Canvas API. Your image never leaves your device.

How to use Extract Palette mode

1. Click Extract Palette at the top of the tool (the default mode).
2. Upload an image. Drag any photo, logo, screenshot, or graphic onto the drop zone or click to browse. The tool analyzes the image immediately.
3. Review the palette. Six dominant colors appear as swatches with HEX and RGB values below each one.
4. Copy a color. Click any swatch to copy its HEX code to your clipboard. Save the full palette as a PNG using the Save button, or share it directly from a mobile device.

How to use Pick Colors mode

1. Click Pick Colors at the top of the tool.
2. Upload an image. Drop or browse to any image, such as a photo, screenshot, UI mockup, logo, or artwork.
3. Click anywhere on the image. The image is shown at full width with a crosshair cursor. Click any pixel to sample its color.
4. Copy the value you need. The sampled color is shown as a swatch alongside HEX, RGB, and HSL values, each with its own Copy button.
5. Continue picking. Click other areas to update the color. Click Reset to start with a new image.

Tips for best results

• Use Extract Palette for branding work. Product photos and logos with clean backgrounds yield the most actionable palettes. The six extracted colors represent the most visually distinct tones, making them directly usable as primary, secondary, and accent values in a design system.
• Use Pick Colors for pixel-precise sampling. When you need the exact value of a specific color in a UI screenshot, a reference design, or a photograph, Pick Colors gives you the precise value rather than an approximation from the palette extraction algorithm.
• Zoom in on complex images before picking. For small UI elements or fine details, zoom your browser window in before clicking to improve pointer accuracy on high-density areas.
• Apply palette colors to watermarks. Copy HEX values from your extracted palette into the image watermark tool to keep watermark colors on-brand across all output files.
• Check small-scale legibility. Extract colors from your logo, then test how they appear in compact contexts like a QR code. Some colors that look vibrant at full size lose distinction at small dimensions.

Why use PixMidas

• 100% private. All color extraction and pixel sampling runs on your device via the Canvas API. Your image is never uploaded to any server.
• Two modes in one tool. Extract a full dominant-color palette or pick individual pixels. Both workflows are available from the same page without switching tools.
• Three color formats in Pick Colors mode. HEX, RGB, and HSL are all shown simultaneously with individual copy buttons. No need to convert between formats manually.
• No account needed. Free and instant. Open the tool and start immediately.

Frequently asked questions

How does color extraction work?

The tool samples thousands of pixels from the uploaded image and groups them by visual similarity using a color quantization approach. Colors that are perceptually close are merged, and the most representative distinct values are returned. This gives you the dominant colors rather than the most frequent single pixel value. The algorithm avoids returning near-identical shades. You always get six visually distinct colors.

What is the difference between Extract Palette and Pick Colors?

Extract Palette analyzes the entire image and returns its six most dominant colors automatically. Pick Colors lets you click any individual pixel to get its exact value. Extract Palette is better for building a design palette from a reference image. Pick Colors is better for matching a specific element, such as the exact blue of a button, the precise skin tone in a portrait, or the background color of a UI screenshot.

What color formats are available?

Extract Palette shows HEX and RGB for each color. Pick Colors shows HEX, RGB, and HSL, each with an individual copy button. HEX is the most common format for CSS and design tools. RGB is used in design software and print workflows. HSL is useful for programmatic color adjustments, since changing only the Lightness or Saturation component creates consistent color variants.

Can I pick colors from a screenshot of a website?

Yes. Take a screenshot (on Mac: Cmd+Shift+4, on Windows: Win+Shift+S), then drop the screenshot file into the Pick Colors upload zone. Click any pixel in the screenshot to get its exact value. This is useful for matching colors from a live site without access to its source code or DevTools.

How many colors are extracted in palette mode?

Always six. The algorithm returns six visually distinct dominant colors regardless of image complexity. Simple images like logos return the exact colors used. Complex photographs return the most representative color clusters. Six colors gives you enough variety for a complete design palette, covering primary, secondary, accent, and neutral tones, without so many near-identical options that the palette becomes hard to apply consistently.

Are my images uploaded to a server?

Never. Both modes use the browser's Canvas API to process your image locally. The image is read into memory via the File API, sampled or analyzed by JavaScript, and the results are shown immediately, without any network request. Your image exists only in your device's memory for the duration of the session.