Top 10 Color Picker Tools Every Designer Should KnowChoosing the right color quickly and consistently is a small task that makes a big difference in design work. Whether you’re crafting a brand palette, matching colors from photos, or fine-tuning accessible contrasts, a reliable color picker saves time and helps maintain visual harmony across projects. Below are ten color picker tools — a mix of browser extensions, desktop apps, and mobile options — that excel for different workflows and skill levels.
1. Adobe Color (web)
Adobe Color is a web-based color tool built around color theory. It’s great for generating harmonious palettes using pre-set rules (analogous, complementary, triad, etc.), extracting themes from images, and exploring community-created palettes.
- Strengths: powerful palette rules, image extraction, seamless integration with Adobe Creative Cloud.
- Best for: designers already in the Adobe ecosystem, those who want theory-driven palettes.
2. ColorZilla (browser extension)
ColorZilla is a longtime favorite among web designers. Available for Chrome and Firefox, it offers an eyedropper to pick colors from any web page, a DOM color analyzer to see colors used on a page, and a CSS gradient generator.
- Strengths: fast in-browser color sampling, history, and CSS-friendly outputs (HEX, RGB).
- Best for: front-end developers and web designers working directly in the browser.
3. Sip (macOS)
Sip is a polished macOS color picker with a clean UI and powerful features: global hotkeys, multiple color formats, collections, and syncing to other tools via integrations. It supports color sampling from any app and offers color suggestions and swaps.
- Strengths: macOS-native performance, organization through collections, format flexibility.
- Best for: mac users who need an elegant, system-wide color utility.
4. ColorSnapper 2 (macOS)
ColorSnapper 2 is another macOS-native color picker focused on simplicity and speed. It captures colors from the screen, supports hotkeys, stores history, and exports in formats developers commonly use.
- Strengths: lightweight and rapid sampling, simple workflow.
- Best for: designers wanting a minimal, no-friction macOS tool.
5. Coolors (web and mobile)
Coolors is a fast, user-friendly palette generator that lets you generate endless palettes, lock colors, and export palettes as swatches, PDF, or images. It’s interactive and great for rapid experimentation.
- Strengths: speed, mobile app, export options, collaborative features.
- Best for: designers who brainstorm palettes quickly and need multi-platform access.
6. ColorPick Eyedropper (Chrome extension)
ColorPick Eyedropper is a straightforward Chrome extension for color sampling from web pages. It provides precise picking with zoom, copies HEX/RGB values to clipboard, and keeps a small history.
- Strengths: simplicity, pixel-perfect sampling, easy clipboard copy.
- Best for: quick web color picks without extra features.
7. Just Color Picker (Windows, macOS)
Just Color Picker is a free cross-platform utility that offers color sampling, history, and adjustment tools. It displays many color codes (HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK) and includes a quick contrast checker.
- Strengths: multi-platform, comprehensive color-code support, free.
- Best for: users who need a no-cost, full-featured picker across OSes.
8. Eyedropper (Chrome extension)
Eyedropper (different from ColorPick) is another popular Chrome extension with a friendly UI for sampling, saving palettes, and sharing color sets. It’s aimed at designers working inside the browser.
- Strengths: palette saving, simple sharing, developer-friendly outputs.
- Best for: collaborative web projects and designers who prefer integrated palette management.
9. Picular (web)
Picular brands itself as “Google for colors.” Instead of a traditional picker, it returns color palettes based on search terms (e.g., “coffee,” “sunset”), pulling prominent colors from image search results. It’s inspirational when you’re starting from a concept rather than an image.
- Strengths: concept-driven color discovery, fast inspiration.
- Best for: moodboard and concept development when you need evocative color ideas.
10. ColorHexa (web)
ColorHexa is a helpful technical reference and converter for individual colors. Enter a HEX/RGB/etc., and it returns conversions, complementary/analogous suggestions, contrast check, gradients, and accessible palettes.
- Strengths: in-depth color data, conversions, actionable recommendations.
- Best for: designers who need precise color analytics and accessibility checks.
How to choose the right color picker
Consider these factors when picking a tool:
- Workflow: Do you work mainly in the browser, on macOS, or across devices?
- Collaboration: Do you need to share palettes with teammates or clients?
- Outputs: Which color formats (HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK) do your tools require?
- Accessibility: Does the tool provide contrast checks for WCAG compliance?
- Budget: Do you need a free tool or are paid upgrades acceptable for added polish?
Quick recommendations
- For web-focused work: ColorZilla or ColorPick Eyedropper.
- For macOS power users: Sip or ColorSnapper 2.
- For rapid palette ideation: Coolors or Picular.
- For deep color analytics and conversions: ColorHexa.
- For cross-platform, free utility: Just Color Picker.
Final notes
A color picker is more than an eyedropper — it’s a tiny control center for color decisions. Try a couple of different tools to see which fits your habits: some teams prefer the simplicity of browser extensions, while others value desktop apps’ organizational features and integrations.
Leave a Reply