Image Color Picker

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Upload or drag an image, then click anywhere on it to extract the color at that spot and view its HEX and RGB values with one-click copy. It automatically builds a 21-step palette of the picked color and records your color history, handy for design and development

Overview

The Image Color Picker lets you extract a color from any image. Upload or drag an image, then click anywhere on it to grab the color at that spot and view its HEX and RGB values with one-click copy. After picking, the tool automatically builds a 21-step palette around the current color (10 lighter shades, the current color, and 10 darker shades), and records each pick into a "Picked colors" history for convenient color sampling and scheme building during design and development.

The whole flow runs locally in your browser, so images are never uploaded to a server. It supports JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP and other common formats, keeping things both private and fast.

How it works

The tool reads pixels with HTML5 Canvas getImageData(). After an image is loaded it is drawn onto a canvas; on click the tool maps your click coordinates to the actual pixel coordinates on the canvas, reads the pixel's RGBA values (red, green, blue, alpha), and converts the three RGB channels to six hex digits to get the HEX value.

The 21-step palette uses the same algorithm as the Color Palette tool: the lighter side interpolates the current color toward white (mix(color, white, p/100)), while the darker side shrinks the RGB channels toward black (color × (1 - p/100)), one step every 10% for a total of 10 lighter shades, the current color, and 10 darker shades. Note that the picked color reflects the image after compression and anti-aliasing, so edges and transition areas may show slight blending.

Use cases

  • UI sampling: pull brand, primary and accent colors straight from designs, screenshots or posters
  • Photo palettes: pick colors that harmonize with a photo and build a color card
  • Front-end development: quickly grab and copy color values for CSS and design specs
  • Shade reference: generate a matching light-to-dark ramp from the picked color in one click

FAQ

Q: Is my image uploaded to a server?
A: No. The image is processed locally in your browser via canvas and is never uploaded, so you can use it with confidence.
Q: Which image formats are supported?
A: Most formats the browser can display, such as JPG, PNG, GIF and WEBP.
Q: Why does the picked color differ slightly from the original?
A: Browsers compress and anti-alias images, especially near edges and color transitions, so the sampled pixel may differ slightly from the original. This is normal.
Q: How many colors are in the palette?
A: 21 swatches in total: 10 lighter shades, the current color (0%, outlined in blue), and 10 darker shades. Click any swatch to copy its HEX.

Typical usage

Pick a green from an image and generate its palette:

1. Click the upload area and choose an image
2. Move the mouse over the green area of the image and click
3. The current color shows: HEX #2e8b57 / RGB rgb(46,139,87)
4. Click "Copy HEX" or "Copy RGB" to copy the color
5. A 21-step palette of #2e8b57 is generated below:
   Lighter: #dff0e9 → #a8d5c1
   Current: #2e8b57
   Darker:  #29805f → #000000

Related tools

This tool belongs to the same color-handling family as Color Converter, Color Palette, and Image to ICO Icon: the Image Color Picker samples colors from images, the Color Converter converts between color models, the Color Palette derives light-to-dark ramps from a single color, and Image to ICO Icon turns an image into site icons. It is also commonly used alongside ASCII Lookup and Base64 Encode in design and development.

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