Generate beautiful color palettes, harmonies, shades, and gradients. Copy HEX, RGB, or HSL values. Export for CSS and Tailwind. Completely free.
Click a color to copy. Lock colors to keep them when regenerating.
Random Color Palettes
Generate 3 to 8 random colors at once. Lock colors you like and regenerate the rest until the palette is perfect.
Color Harmony Theory
Complementary, analogous, triadic, and split complementary schemes. Built on actual color theory principles.
Shades & Tints
Pick any color and get 9 shades from lightest tint to darkest shade. Perfect for design systems and UI themes.
Gradient Creator
Set start and end colors and generate smooth gradients with 3 to 11 stops. Get the CSS code instantly.
CSS & Tailwind Export
Download palettes as CSS custom properties, Tailwind config, RGB values, and HSL values. Ready to paste into your project.
Lock & Regenerate
Found a color you love? Lock it in place and regenerate only the unlocked colors. Build your palette piece by piece.
What Is a Color Generator?
A color generator creates colors for you. At its simplest, it picks random colors. At its best, it helps you build cohesive color palettes, find harmonious color combinations based on color theory, generate shades and tints of any color, and create smooth gradients between two colors.
Designers use color generators to kickstart their projects. Instead of staring at a blank canvas trying to decide on colors, you generate a few random palettes until something catches your eye. Then you refine from there. It is faster than picking colors manually and often leads to combinations you would not have thought of on your own.
Our tool gives you four modes: random palette generation with a lock feature, color harmony schemes based on the color wheel, a shade and tint generator for any base color, and a gradient creator with CSS output. Every color shows its HEX, RGB, and HSL values, and you can export everything for use in CSS or Tailwind.
How to Use the Color Generator
Each mode works a little differently, but the basics are the same. Here is a quick walkthrough:
1Choose a mode. Palette for random colors, Harmony for theory-based schemes, Shades for lightness variations, or Gradient for smooth color transitions.
2Generate colors. Click the generate button to create a new set. In palette mode, you can choose 3 to 8 colors and lock ones you like.
3Click any color to copy its HEX code. Hover over colors in the preview bar to see their values.
4Use the Export button to download all color values as a text file. It includes CSS variables, Tailwind config, RGB, and HSL formats.
5Save palettes you like using the Save button. They are stored in your session so you can compare and come back to them.
Understanding Color Harmonies
Color harmony is the concept that certain color combinations are naturally pleasing to the eye. These combinations are based on the positions of colors on the color wheel. Our tool supports four main types:
Complementary
Two colors opposite each other on the color wheel. High contrast and visual impact. Think blue and orange, or red and green. Best for designs that need a bold, energetic feel.
Analogous
Three colors next to each other on the color wheel. Low contrast and a natural, harmonious feel. Like blue, blue-green, and green. Best for serene, comfortable designs.
Triadic
Three colors evenly spaced around the color wheel. Balanced but colorful. Like red, yellow, and blue. Best for vibrant designs that need variety without chaos.
Split Complementary
A base color plus the two colors adjacent to its complement. Similar contrast to complementary but less tension. Best for designs that want contrast without being too aggressive.
You do not need to understand color theory to use these. Just pick a base color, select a harmony type, and the tool calculates the rest. If you like the result, export it. If not, try a different base color or harmony type.
Shades, Tints, and Tones Explained
If you have ever needed a lighter or darker version of a color, you are looking for shades and tints. These are not random variations. They follow a specific logic based on the color's lightness value.
A tint is a color mixed with white. It gets lighter. A shade is a color mixed with black. It gets darker. A tone is a color mixed with gray. It gets more muted. Our tool generates 9 levels from the lightest tint (95% lightness) to the darkest shade (5% lightness) while keeping the same hue and saturation.
This is extremely useful for design systems. If your brand color is a specific blue, you need lighter blues for backgrounds, medium blues for borders, and darker blues for text and hover states. Instead of picking these by eye, the shade generator gives you a mathematically consistent scale that works across your entire design.
HEX, RGB, and HSL: Color Formats Explained
Every color in this tool is shown in three formats. Here is what each one means and when to use it:
Format
Example
Best For
HEX
#3b82f6
CSS, design tools, shorthand notation
RGB
rgb(59, 130, 246)
CSS, JavaScript, transparency with rgba()
HSL
hsl(217, 91%, 60%)
CSS, easy manual adjustments to hue/saturation/lightness
HEX is the most commonly used format on the web. RGB is useful when you need transparency (just add an alpha channel). HSL is the most human-readable because you can intuitively understand what changing the hue, saturation, or lightness will do. Our export file includes all three so you can use whichever your project needs.
Who Uses a Color Generator?
Color generators are used across a wide range of creative and technical fields:
Web designers building color schemes for websites and landing pages
UI/UX designers creating design systems with consistent color scales
Graphic designers looking for fresh color combinations for print and digital work
Developers who need quick HEX or RGB values for CSS, Tailwind, or JavaScript
Social media managers picking brand-consistent colors for posts and graphics
Interior designers exploring color palettes for rooms and spaces
Artists and illustrators finding complementary and harmonious color sets
Students learning about color theory, harmony, and the color wheel
Marketers creating on-brand presentations, ads, and collateral
Anyone who needs to pick a color and does not want to spend 20 minutes doing it
Tips for Picking Better Color Palettes
Generating random colors is easy. Turning them into a good palette takes a little more thought. Here are some practical tips:
1
Start with one color you love
Lock that color in place and generate the rest around it. This anchors your palette and gives it a clear starting point instead of pure randomness.
2
Use the 60-30-10 rule
In any design, use your dominant color for 60% of the space, a secondary color for 30%, and an accent color for 10%. This creates visual balance without monotony.
3
Check contrast for accessibility
Make sure your text colors have enough contrast against their backgrounds. Light text on light backgrounds is a common mistake. The shade generator helps you find darker versions of your colors for text.
4
Less is more
Most good designs use 3 to 5 colors. You do not need 8 different colors unless you have a specific reason. Start with fewer and add only if the design feels flat.
5
Test in context
Colors look different depending on what is next to them. A color that looks great in isolation might clash in your actual design. Always test your palette in the real layout before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to Find Your Perfect Colors?
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