Frequently Asked Questions

An AI color palette generator builds matching sets of colors for you, so you don't have to pick every swatch by hand. ChromaKit's free generator runs entirely in your browser: it interprets the descriptive keywords you type — such as “ocean blue” or “luxury gold” — applies color harmony rules, and returns a five-color palette you can edit, test and export. Nothing is uploaded and no account is needed; all of the work happens on your device.

ChromaKit starts from an input — a text prompt, a custom starting color or an image — and builds a five-color palette around it. It combines on-device keyword interpretation with color harmony math, the set of wheel relationships that makes schemes feel balanced. Each swatch is shown as HEX, RGB and HSL, and you can lock the colors you like while regenerating the rest. The how it works page walks through every step.

Yes. Paste a HEX value into the custom color input — RGB and HSL work too, and there is a visual color picker — and the palette generator will build a matching five-color scheme around it. Lock your starting color so it survives regeneration, then adjust the others until the palette feels right. Every swatch displays its HEX, RGB and HSL values with one-click copy buttons.

Yes — that is exactly what ChromaKit is built for. Generate a palette, check text and UI contrast with the built-in WCAG checker, and use the live website preview to see the colors applied to a real page layout. When everything looks right, export design tokens for Primary, Secondary, Accent, Background, Surface and Text as CSS variables, JSON or Tailwind config. The website color palette guide covers the process in depth.

Complementary colors sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel — blue and orange, or red and green, for example. Paired carefully they create strong, vibrant contrast, which is why they work well for buttons, links and calls to action. ChromaKit's Complementary harmony mode builds a palette around this relationship automatically.

Analogous colors are neighbors on the color wheel, such as blue, teal and green. Because they share underlying hues, analogous palettes feel calm and cohesive, which makes them a safe choice for backgrounds and large surfaces. Choose the Analogous harmony mode in the generator, or read the color theory guide to see when each harmony works best.

A monochromatic palette uses a single hue at different levels of saturation and lightness — essentially tints and shades of one color. The results are naturally harmonious and easy to keep accessible, which suits minimal interfaces and content-heavy sites. ChromaKit's Monochromatic mode creates these palettes for you, and the shade generator adds steps from 50 to 950 that you can copy with a click.

A triadic palette places three colors evenly around the color wheel, roughly 120 degrees apart — red, yellow and blue is the classic example. The scheme feels colorful and balanced, and works best with one dominant color plus two quieter supporters. Pick the Triadic harmony mode in the generator and ChromaKit handles the geometry for you.

Start with the feeling you want your brand to project, then turn that into keywords — typing something like “fresh mint” or “luxury gold” into the prompt box is a quick way to explore directions. Check that your primary color passes contrast on both light and dark backgrounds with the built-in checker, lock the colors you love, and build the rest of the system around them. The article on how to create a color palette covers the whole process step by step.

Color contrast measures the difference in luminance between two colors — usually text and the background behind it — expressed as a ratio from 1:1 (no contrast) to 21:1 (black on white). Higher ratios are easier to read, especially for people with low vision or anyone using a screen in bright light. ChromaKit includes a contrast checker that scores any pair of palette colors and flags accessibility problems while you can still fix them.

WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, defines minimum contrast ratios that keep text readable. Level AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text and UI elements; level AAA raises those thresholds to 7:1 and 4.5:1. ChromaKit's built-in checker tests your palette against both levels as you design, and the WCAG contrast guide explains the rules in detail.

Yes. Add a JPG, PNG or WebP file to the generator and it will pull the dominant colors from the image to start a palette. Processing happens locally in your browser using the canvas API — the image is never uploaded to a server, and nothing is kept after you close the tab.

Yes. You can copy the whole palette as CSS custom properties or download it as a ready-to-use stylesheet, alongside PNG, SVG and JSON exports. ChromaKit also generates full design tokens — Primary, Secondary, Accent, Background, Surface, Text, Muted, Border, Success, Warning and Error — in CSS, JSON and Tailwind formats, so a palette drops straight into any project.

No. ChromaKit is completely free with no account, no signup and no email required — open the generator and start creating. Palettes you save are stored in your browser's localStorage, on your own device, so there is nothing to log into and no data sitting on a server.

Yes. Colors are not copyrightable, and palettes you create in ChromaKit are yours to use freely — client work, commercial products, anything at all. The tool puts no restrictions on what you export, and the Terms & Conditions spell out the details if you ever need them.