Palette Studio

Every picture has a palette, the handful of colours that carry it. Palette Studio finds them by grouping similar pixels and measuring how much of the picture each group covers. Next to each colour you see its hex value and the classic artists’ pigment that comes closest, with its Colour Index name such as PB29 for ultramarine.

Why look at palettes

Palettes explain why a room feels calm or restless, and why some pictures sit beautifully on a wall while others fight with it. Painters have always worked with limited palettes; seeing one isolated from the picture trains your eye for colour relationships, warm against cool, light against dark. Our article on colour and pigments tells the story behind the names.

Using it at home

Photograph a work you own or are thinking of buying, load the photo and compare its palette with your wall, textiles and furniture. Screens and phone cameras shift colours, so treat the result as a guide and check in daylight.