10 Most Useful Color Tools for Web Designers

When starting a new project, one of the first things you need to do is define your color palette. If you feel uninspired and would like to easily test your color options, you can benefit from various color tools from around the web that will help you to quickly and efficiently create your color themes. Here’s a selection of top 10 web-based color tools to help you make great color choices that perfectly fit your projects.

1. Adobe Color CC

This is a classic tool that used to go by the name of Adobe Kuler. Over the years it developed into a practical theme generator, as well as a great sharing resource. Using the web-based version of Adobe Color CC, you can try out colors, create color schemes and save them for future reference. You’ll find various collections of themes – like the most popular or used ones. The desktop version of the tool allows to easily export your color schemes to other programs, such as Photoshop, InDesign or Illustrator.

2. Ultimate CSS Gradient Generator

CSS3 gradients are sometimes quite tricky to write. In order to make your gradients work across different platforms, you usually need to know different color values and add relevant vendor prefixes. This is a tool that will simply do the job for you – enjoy its intuitive interface, choose your gradients and copy the generated code into your work. Problem solved!

3. The Color App

This is an app for iOS that basically helps users to find great colors. You’ll have a large grid of colors, a selection of color samples, as well as a full profile for every color with its Hex, HSLA and RGB value. All this allows to create a color palette, which is probably the best strategy for checking whether two colors go well together.

4. Hex Color Scheme Generator

Another smart and simple tool to help you build upon an already existing color reference. It’s enough to paste your Hex color value and you’ll receive a selection of inspiring colors that match your base color. Creating a consistent and professional color scheme has never been easier.

5. Multicolr Search Lab

This is a great place for inspiration. Multicolr Search Lab is a large repository of over 10 million Creative Commons images taken directly from Flickr – all aimed at showing various color combinations. This tool will help you to easily acquire images with specified color sets. The tool is intuitive to use and will bring you heaps of inspiration for your color schemes.

6. ColourLovers

This is another great repository of images that will help you to come up with better solutions for color schemes in your designs. You’ll find a collection of user-generated color palettes to serve as your sources of inspiration. The platform allows you to browse the database and save the schemes you like most. You’ll also receive suggestions for other colors that match the ones you chose.

7. Sphere

This tool will be perfect if you’re still undecided about your base color. It’s a smart color visualizer tool, where you can easily pick out tints and hues placed on a convenient color wheel. Sphere has a simple and intuitive interface, rendering the tool indispensable in your task of choosing the right color palette with perfectly harmonizing values.

8. Colr.org

If you’re looking for a tool that will give you a detailed color from image analysis, it’s Colr. It will help you see the whole range of available colors in a picture and consequently make a conscious theme choice. Even if it doesn’t look that polished, it offers analysis that isn’t automated – a really valuable look into the color range of an image.

9. Pictaculous

Another tool for color from picture, Pictaculous is something you can use to pick out colors from an uploaded picture. This will help you build a specific style or atmosphere by extending the color to your palette and implementing it in your design’s color scheme.

10. Hexu.al

Hexu is a great tool for you in case you wanted to get rid of the boring letter-and-number Hex color values and turn them into unique and fun names. Have a look at the website to get the idea – #COOCOO or #BAOBAB are simply worth a try!

All these color tools will ensure your success in creating inspiring and captivating color schemes, making the process of coding easier and far more creative.

This article is written by Monique Craig. She is an Australian blogger and marketing specialist who works for Oneflare, an online marketplace which connects customers with local service providers.