# Image Color Palette Generator - Extract Dominant Colors from a Photo

> Free online colour palette extractor: find the 3–16 dominant colours with percentages, copy HEX / RGB / HSL and export CSS variables, JSON or a PNG strip.

- URL: https://qilingtools.com/en/image/palette
- Category: Image Tools (https://qilingtools.com/en/image)
- Tags: [Image](https://qilingtools.com/en/tags/image), [Design](https://qilingtools.com/en/tags/design)
- Last updated: 2026-10-26
- Price: Free, no sign-up
- Privacy: Runs locally in the browser; files are never uploaded

Upload a photo, poster, illustration or screenshot and the tool clusters every pixel with k-means to find the 3–16 colors that best represent it, showing how much of the picture each one covers. Click any value to copy it as HEX, RGB or HSL, and sort the palette by share, hue or lightness. When you need brand colors, design inspiration or a scheme for slides and websites, export the palette as CSS custom properties, JSON or a labelled PNG swatch strip. Everything is computed in your browser.

## How to use

1. Upload an image
2. Choose how many colors to extract and how to sort them
3. Click a value to copy it, or export CSS variables, JSON or a PNG swatch

## Features

- k-means clustering for 3–16 dominant colors
- Percentage share of each color
- One-click copy of HEX / RGB / HSL
- Export as CSS variables, JSON or PNG swatches

## FAQ

### How is this different from the color picker?

The color picker grabs the exact color of a single pixel. The palette tool analyses the whole image and summarises it into a handful of dominant colors with their shares, which is better for building color schemes.

### Why do the colors change when I change the count?

For the same image and count the result is always identical. Changing the number of colors re-runs the clustering, so similar shades merge or split — that is expected.

### Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. Everything runs locally in your browser via WebAssembly. Files never leave your computer and are discarded when you close the page.

### Do I need to sign up or pay?

No. The site is completely free, requires no account, has no usage limits and adds no watermarks.

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