Pixel Art Color Palette Extractor
A free, browser-based color palette extractor and swatch generator for pixel artists. Drop in any image or photo and instantly pull its colors as hex codes, sorted dark to light. Copy individual codes, copy them all at once, or download the palette as a compact 8px PNG strip ready to import into Aseprite or Photoshop. No login, no upload, nothing leaves your browser.
How to Use the Pixel Art Color Palette Extractor
Add your image. Click to browse, drag a file in, or copy any image and paste it with ⌘V (Ctrl+V on Windows). To pull colors from something online, right-click it, choose Copy Image, then paste.
See your palette. The extractor reads the image, tells you how many colors it found, and lists them as hex codes sorted dark to light. Click Reverse Order to flip the sort light to dark.
Clean it up (optional). Hover over any swatch and click the X in its corner to delete that color, handy for clearing out near-duplicate shades that creep in from compressed images.
Copy what you need. Click a single swatch to copy its hex code, or hit Copy All Codes to grab the whole palette at once.
Download a swatch. Export the palette as a compact 8px PNG strip that drops straight into Aseprite, Photoshop, or any editor that reads color from an image.
Everything runs locally in your browser. No login, no sign-up, and your images are never uploaded to a server.
What You Can Use It For
Sampling palettes from classic 8-bit and 16-bit game screenshots, a technique I walk through in Top Ten Things New Pixel Artists Should Know.
Matching a client's brand colors before you start a piece.
Pulling exact hex codes from existing art so you can extend, recolor, or match it.
Turning any photo into a custom 20-color palette, ready to paint from.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it really free?
Yes. No account, no paywall, no watermarks.
Do my images get uploaded anywhere?
No. Everything happens locally in your browser, so nothing you drop in ever leaves your computer.
What can I import the palette into?
The 8px PNG swatch imports cleanly into Aseprite and Photoshop, and works with any editor that can read colors from an image.
What image formats can it pull swatches from?
Standard web formats like PNG, JPG, and GIF.
Made by a working pixel artist
I built this tool for my own workflow after 20+ years of pixel art for clients like Marvel, ESPN, and Disney. If you want more technique tips, check out my guide to keeping pixel art crisp in Photoshop. And if you'd rather commission the real thing, you can hire a pixel artist.
