Coolors

You’re staring at a blank canvas, a mood board, or a client brief that demands a specific color palette—but your inspiration has run dry. You spend twenty minutes scrolling through generic swatches, trying to force a combination that doesn’t feel stale. This is the exact friction Coolors was built to eliminate. It is a digital tool that shifts the creative workflow from hunting for colors to instantly generating, testing, and exporting coherent palettes. There is no guesswork, no endless browsing of pre-made sets. Instead, you get a systematic engine for color discovery that adapts to your project’s needs.

Core Mechanics and Palette Generation

The central interaction is the generator. You start with a base color, and the app uses a set of adjustable algorithms—monochromatic, analogous, complementary, triadic, and tetradic—to produce a five-color palette in real time. Each color is displayed as a large, tappable swatch. You can lock any swatch you want to keep, then regenerate the remaining unlocked colors with a single tap. This lock-and-shuffle mechanic gives you fine control: you can preserve a primary brand blue while exploring different accent hues. The app also includes a photo import feature. Upload any image from your camera roll, and Coolors extracts a dominant color palette directly from the pixels. This is useful for matching a design to a specific landscape, product photo, or piece of artwork without manual color picking.

Advanced Editing and Export Tools

Beyond generation, the app provides a full color editor. Tap any swatch to access sliders for hue, saturation, brightness, and hex value. You can also view the color in RGB, CMYK, and HSL formats, making it compatible with both digital and print workflows. For accessibility, there is a contrast checker built into the editor: select two colors, and the app calculates the contrast ratio according to WCAG guidelines, flagging whether the combination passes for normal text, large text, or UI components. The export system is equally practical. You can copy the entire palette as a list of hex codes, export a PNG or PDF visual sheet, or send the palette directly to design tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate via share sheets. The app also supports CSS, SCSS, and LESS code export for web developers.

Key Advantages for Daily Use

• Instant lock-and-shuffle — preserve colors while exploring variations.
• Photo extraction — build palettes from any image in seconds.
• Accessibility checker — verify contrast ratios for WCAG compliance.
• Multi-format export — hex, RGB, CMYK, CSS, and direct app integration.

Download mobile app now

Stop wasting time on static color wheels and pre-made sets. Get the tool that lets you generate, lock, and export professional palettes in under a minute. Start building your next design with confidence.

Disclaimer: This app requires an internet connection for photo import and some export features. In-app purchases are available for premium export formats and advanced algorithm presets. The app is rated for ages 4+ and does not collect personal data without explicit consent. Data usage may apply when using the photo extraction tool. Standard carrier data charges may apply.