Extract Colors from Website
Extract dominant colours from any image URL or uploaded photo using ColorThief.
No palette yet
Paste an image URL or upload a photo to extract its colours
How to Extract Colors from an Image
- 1.Click the Device tab to upload an image from your computer, or the URL tab to paste a public image link.
- 2.The tool analyzes the image and extracts up to 16 dominant colors using the ColorThief algorithm.
- 3.View the extracted palette in a live swatch grid alongside the image preview.
- 4.Click any color swatch to copy its HEX code to your clipboard.
- 5.Export the full palette as CSS custom properties for use in your project.
What is Color Extraction?
Color extraction (or color quantization) is the process of algorithmically identifying the most visually prominent colors in an image. This tool uses ColorThief, which applies a median cut algorithm to the image's pixel data. It divides the color space repeatedly, cutting the dimension with the greatest range each time, until it has isolated the requested number of color clusters. The representative color of each cluster - its median - becomes a palette swatch. This technique is widely used by designers to derive color palettes from photography, artwork, brand imagery, and nature. Instead of manually sampling colors with an eyedropper, you get a mathematically derived set of dominant hues that represent the image's true visual palette. These palettes can then be used as the basis for brand color systems, mood boards, and design tokens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the URL extraction sometimes fail?
Some image URLs block cross-origin requests (CORS). The tool uses a fallback chain of CORS proxy services to bypass this. If all proxies fail, try downloading the image and uploading it directly from your device instead.
Is my uploaded image stored anywhere?
No. Images uploaded from your device are processed entirely in your browser using the File API and Canvas. No image data is ever sent to any server. URL-based images are fetched through proxy services solely for CORS access, but not stored.
How many colors can I extract?
The tool extracts up to 16 dominant colors by default. For most images, 6–10 colors capture the key palette. Extracting more colors surfaces subtle hues; extracting fewer shows only the broadest dominant tones.