pppalette: friendly color palette generator for beautiful colors | fffuel,This color scheme generator tool aims to make the process easier, designed by sebseb
Color harmony is the arrangement of multiple colors together to achieve a desired visual effect. This is done by picking colors that are placed at specific positions on a color/hue wheel in relation to the position of a primary color. The most popular color harmonies are complementary colors, split complementary colors, triadic colors, analogous colors and monochromatic colors (tints, shades & tones).
Complementary Colors
Complementary colors are opposite from each other on the hue wheel and are colors that go well together while offering a maximum amount of contrast between the two colors. This works well when we want to use colors that should stand out on their own. Complementary colors are often used for color grading in movies, to give that nice contrasty effect.
Split Complementary Colors
With split complementary colors we get 3 main hues instead of the 2 that we get with complementary colors. They consist of the primary hue, along with 2 hues that are a few degrees before and after the opposite point on the color wheel.
Analogous Colors
The analogous color harmony consists of a series of hues that are close to each other on the color wheel, creating a palette that has a low amount of contrast between the different colors. This make for a more subtle and conservative color palette. Normally we see analogous colors that are separated in hue by 30 degrees from each other, but here you'll also find a narrow analogous palette where colors are separated by 15 degrees.
Triadic Colors
Triadic colors are a set of 3 colors placed at equal distance from each other on the hue wheel. These offer a good middle ground between analogous and complementary colors.
Monochromatic Colors
Monochromatic colors share a same hue, but their saturation and lightness can vary. This color palette generator tool presents 3 types of monochromatic color palettes: tints, shades and tones. Tints consist of the base hue mixed-in with various amounts of white, shades are the base hue mixed-in with various amounts of black and tones are the base hue mixed-in with various amount of gray.
Color Tone Categories
Color tone categories are groups of colors that are within a certain narrow range of saturation and lightness from each other, creating cohesion between them. These colors can have different hues, but the cohesive range of saturation and lightness places them in a group that tends to fit well together. In this tool you'll find palettes for 5 such color categories: pastel colors, neutral colors, earth colors, neon/fluorescent colors, and jewel colors. Note that in this tool the palettes for these color categories won't change until a different hue is picked. You can however click to randomize these palettes and a different saturation and lightness will be picked for the palette within the range of that color category.
Pastel Colors
Pastels are subtle, bright and subdued colors that recede in the background easily. Pastels are usually low in saturation and high in lightness.
Neutral Colors
Neutrals tones are, as their name implies, quite neutral in their effect and don't usually register to our eyes as a distinct color. Neutrals include all grays as well as unsaturated colors that are close to gray, and they work well in places where a vibrant would distract from the rest of the design.
Earth Colors
Earth tones are often seen with organic materials in the real world and are found everywhere in nature. They have a low to medium level of saturation and a medium level of brightness.
Jewel Colors
Jewel tones, as the name implies, are colors that remind of gems and crystals like rubies, sapphires, amethyst and citrine. These colors have a medium to medium-high saturation and medium lightness.
Neon/fluorescent Colors
Neon/fluorescent tones are bright and highly saturated colors. These really catch the eye and command attention and often pair well with a dark background.
To learn more about these color categories and how they work, I recommend this video by DesignerUp.