Graphic designers rely on color and have been utilizing color theory since the beginning to create attention-grabbing and persuasive ads. Without color, marketing would be one note and boring. While there are a number of ways to select colors to use for a graphic design project, palette generators are a wonderful tool for graphic design, because such tools help bring the entire color scheme together into a unified look. A palette generator also is beneficial for picking both primary and secondary colors within the palette and seeing how they complement one another.
Let’s have a look at some of the best color generating tools for graphic design available right now:
1. Colordot
A browser-based swatch generator with a straightforward name? Look no farther than the app, Colordot. Visit the website and just scroll or move your mouse around the screen to watch the colors shift. It’s that simple. After you find a color that you like, you then click the box in the center of the color swatch to save it. Another section of color with appear, so you can generate as many color columns that you need. An iPhone app is also available.
2. COLOURLovers
Being that COLOURLovers is one of the largest online community of over 8 million members and 300,000 designers, you obviously can’t go wrong with this site. There’s thousands upon thousands of color generating possibilities on the website, including the innovative tool called COPASO—an advanced color palette for professionals. You see a dashboard with sliders, a color circle that fabricates shades of colors for an in sync color scheme. As you get deeper into your designs, there’s also a number of templates and shapes to choose from.
For those familiar with the app Pictaculous by Mail Chimp, it actually is connected to COLOURLovers. You can even download the generated codes from either app into an Adobe Swatch file or use the generated hex codes directly.
3. Palettable
Sometimes choosing a color palette feels like a blind date. If so, Palettable is like the Tinder of the graphic design world by allowing you to peruse randomly generated palettes by either Like or Dislike on the ones you like. Once you find a group of colors you like the most, you move on to a second phase of color selection. You will have a complete palette by the time you end the cycle, as well as hex codes for copying.
4. LOLColors
Though the collections of colors on LOLColors are simple, the site is certainly going to become a favorite. Why? Because you see the palettes based on their popularity with other users. That means the highest rated palettes are available to you first. Plus, the overall layout of the website is whimsical and bright, adding some fun to your search for color.
5. Coolors
Another popular palette generator is called Coolors. Though slightly less useful than the Color program, Coolors lets you export, save, and reuse the generated palettes within Adobe. If you find yourself looking up color palettes while roaming, Coolors has a mobile app. This might come in handy when you are having clients review a design and want to offer other color options.
6. Color Wheel by Brandmark
Even AI has found its way into the world of graphic design. Brandmark has made the program Color Wheel, which uses algorithms to curate a personal selection of colors for logos, wireframes, illustrations, vectors, and more. All you have to do is upload the graphic design piece then have thousands of unique color variations displayed within a matter of seconds. This is probably one of the most usual for graphic designers who meet with clients regularly and like to offer new color options for previously designed logos and icons.
7. FrankDeLoupe
Have a Mac? Then the app called FrankDeLoupe has two versions: Cool and Usual. Cool comes into play when you connect to Photoshop. Usual is a stand-able color picker that offers thousands of colors that are precise and rich. Every single shade you can image is available on this app. The integration with Photoshop via Remote Connection is absolutely seamless, too. This allows for heightened productivity, which every graphic designer needs once in a while.
8. Ambiance
Here’s a second program that works in partnership with COLOURLovers by taking random color palettes and displaying them as a rainbow of large color swatch cards. The main reason to use Ambiance is for the streamlined interface that is much less cluttered than other graphic design tools. Ease of use is top-notch with Ambiance. Simply hit the Generate button to find an amazing palette.
9. Adobe Capture CC
If you are a graphic designer who uses iOS, then the app by Adobe called Capture CC is a vivid and lush world of color for you to explore. Technically, this app is a photo to vector program. To use Capture CC, take a photograph with the app then have it automatically generate a palette based on the colors of said picture. Other than colors, you have access to shapes, brushes, materials, patterns, and font. Then you can save these palettes for later.
10. Colorable
Colorable was developed by Jxnblk to make it painless for print and web designers to test out various color combinations using hex codes. The site is innovative—all you do is add the hex value for two colors and let the system rate the combination based on the WCAG accessibility guidelines. This helps you develop a better user experience for visually impaired people, as well as having a beautifully colored design.
Now that you know the top 10 color picking tools available to you, nothing is in your way when it comes to crafting a number of beautiful graphic design pieces. Regardless of what projects you often find yourself working on or how demanding your needs for color swatches may be, there is a wide selection of color generating tools that give you flexibility to exercise your creativity as much as you want. So what are you waiting for? Start generating those palettes!
