Color Picker

Pick colors from any image or your screen with our free online color picker. Get HEX, RGB, and HSL codes instantly. 100% private and works in your browser.

A color picker extracts color values from images or your screen, returning HEX, RGB, and HSL codes for any pixel you click. It uses the browser's Canvas API to read pixel data from uploaded images, and the EyeDropper API (Chrome, Edge) to capture colors from anywhere on your screen. All processing happens locally -- no images or color data are transmitted.

Pick colors from images or your screen without any uploads

Upload an image or use the system-wide eyedropper to capture any pixel on your screen. Get HEX, RGB, and HSL instantly — all locally in your browser.

All formats

Screen eyedropper

Free unlimited

How to use

1
Choose Method
Upload an image or use the 'Pick from Screen' button.
2
Pick Color
Hover over your image to see a preview, then click to capture the color.
3
Copy Code
The color is added to your history. Click to copy its HEX, RGB, or HSL value.

A Designer and Developer's Best Friend

For Designers

Quickly grab the exact hex code from a brand logo, a mood board image, or an inspirational photo. Build your color palettes with pixel-perfect accuracy.

For Developers

Extract color values from a UI mockup (JPG or PNG) to use directly in your CSS or app code. Get RGB values for native development or HEX for web styling.

System-Wide Eyedropper

Pick colors from any application on your screen — not just from images in the browser. Powered by the EyeDropper API (Chrome/Edge/Opera).

CSS-Ready Output

Copy HEX, RGB, or HSL values with one click — formatted and ready to paste into CSS, SCSS, or any design tool.

Understanding Digital Color Picking

How digital color works

Digital displays reproduce colors using the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) additive color model. Each pixel on a screen is composed of three subpixels -- red, green, and blue -- each of which can be set to 256 brightness levels (0-255). By combining these three channels, a standard display can produce 16.7 million colors (256^3). The color value you pick from an image or screen is the RGB triplet of that specific pixel, which can be expressed in multiple notations: HEX (#00BFA5), RGB (rgb(0, 191, 165)), or HSL (hsl(174, 100%, 37%)).

When you pick a color from an image using our tool, the browser's Canvas API reads the pixel data at the click position using getImageData(). This returns a Uint8ClampedArray containing the RGBA values (red, green, blue, alpha) of the pixel. The alpha channel (0-255) represents transparency --0 is fully transparent, 255 is fully opaque. The tool then converts the RGB values to HEX and HSL for display. For screen-wide color picking, the EyeDropper API captures a single pixel's color from anywhere on your display, including other browser tabs and desktop applications.

Color spaces matter when picking colors for different purposes. The sRGB color space is the standard for web design -- it's what browsers, CSS, and HTML use. However, many modern displays support wider color gamuts (Adobe RGB, Display P3) that can show more saturated colors than sRGB. When you pick a color from a P3-display image, the browser may report P3 values that are out of sRGB gamut. For web design, always work in sRGB to ensure consistent color across devices. For print design, consider converting to CMYK using a dedicated print color management tool.

Practical color picking workflows

Designers use color pickers in several workflows: extracting brand colors from a logo image, building a color palette from a photograph, matching colors between a design mockup and a live website, and capturing inspiration colors from anywhere on screen. The EyeDropper API is particularly powerful for the last use case -- you can pick a color from a design in Figma, a color from a website in another tab, or even a color from a desktop application, without taking a screenshot first.

When building a color palette from an image, pick 3-5 colors that represent the dominant tones. Start with the most prominent color (often the background), then pick 1-2 accent colors, and finally a neutral. Tools like the palette generator can automate this process by analyzing the image's color histogram. When picking colors for accessibility, always check the contrast ratio between text and background colors -- our contrast checker tool uses the WCAG 2.1 contrast formula to ensure readability.

Understanding Color Codes

HEX (Hexadecimal)

Example: #00BFA5. The most common format for web colors. A six-digit code representing the mix of Red, Green, and Blue.

RGB (Red, Green, Blue)

Example: rgb(0, 191, 165). Defines intensity of red, green, and blue light components (0-255).

HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness)

Example: hsl(174, 100%, 37%). More intuitive for humans. Hue is color type, Saturation is intensity, Lightness is brightness.

How does this compare to other color pickers?

A side-by-side comparison of popular color picker tools.

Feature	NovaTools	ImageColorPicker.com
Pick from image	Canvas API
Pick from screen	EyeDropper API
HEX + RGB + HSL output	All three	HEX only
Color history	Unlimited
Privacy (no upload)	100% local	Uploads image
Works offline

Most online color pickers require uploading your image to their server. Our tool reads pixel data directly from the Canvas API in your browser -- your images never leave your device. The EyeDropper API enables screen-wide color capture, which server-based tools cannot offer.

FAQ

Are my images uploaded to a server?

No. Your privacy is guaranteed. All processing happens entirely within your web browser using the HTML5 Canvas API. When you upload an image, it is loaded directly into your browser's memory — it is never transmitted to our servers, stored in a database, or accessible to anyone but you. The tool reads pixel data from the image using the Canvas API's `getImageData()` method and converts the RGB values to HEX, RGB, and HSL formats for display. When you close the browser tab, all image data and color history are cleared from memory immediately. This makes the tool safe to use for confidential brand assets, client mockups, or proprietary designs.

What is the 'Pick Color From Screen' button?

This feature uses your browser's built-in EyeDropper API (available in Chrome, Edge, and Opera). It allows you to pick a color from any application or window on your entire screen — not just from the image in the browser. When you click the button, the browser dims your screen and shows an eyedropper cursor that follows your mouse. Click anywhere on your screen to capture that pixel's color. This is incredibly useful for matching colors from other design tools, websites, or desktop applications. The EyeDropper API is a privacy-conscious implementation — the browser only returns the single pixel color you click, not a screenshot of your screen.

What's the difference between HEX, RGB, and HSL?

HEX (#RRGGBB) is a hexadecimal representation of color, standard for web design and CSS. Each pair of digits represents the intensity of red, green, and blue (00-FF, equivalent to 0-255). RGB (rgb(0, 191, 165)) uses decimal values (0-255) for the same three channels. HSL (hsl(174, 100%, 37%)) describes color in terms of Hue (0-360 degrees on the color wheel), Saturation (0-100%, how vivid the color is), and Lightness (0-100%, how dark or light). HSL is often more intuitive for designers because you can create variations of a color by adjusting just one value — for example, reducing lightness to create a darker shade.

Which browsers support the EyeDropper API?

The EyeDropper API is currently supported in Chrome (version 95+), Edge (version 95+), and Opera (version 81+). It is not supported in Firefox or Safari as of 2026. If you are using an unsupported browser, the 'Pick from Screen' button will not appear, but you can still pick colors from uploaded images. The EyeDropper API is a W3C draft specification, so support may expand to other browsers in the future. For Firefox users, a similar feature is available through browser extensions. For Safari users, the built-in Digital Color Meter utility (in Applications > Utilities) provides similar system-wide color picking.

Can I pick multiple colors and keep a history?

Yes. Every color you pick is automatically added to your color history, which appears below the main color display. Each history entry shows the color swatch, HEX value, RGB value, and HSL value, with individual copy buttons for each format. You can pick an unlimited number of colors in a single session. The history persists until you refresh or close the page — it is not saved to local storage or transmitted to any server. This is useful for building a color palette from a single image or capturing multiple colors from different parts of your screen.

How do I copy a color value?

Click any color value (HEX, RGB, or HSL) in the display or history section to copy it to your clipboard. The copied value is formatted as a CSS-ready string: `#00BFA5` for HEX, `rgb(0, 191, 165)` for RGB, or `hsl(174, 100%, 37%)` for HSL. You can paste it directly into your CSS, SCSS, Tailwind config, design tool, or code editor. The tool uses the Clipboard API for reliable copying across all modern browsers. A visual confirmation (checkmark or tooltip) appears when the value is copied successfully.

Can I use this tool to pick colors from a website?

Yes, using the 'Pick from Screen' feature in supported browsers (Chrome, Edge, Opera). Navigate to the website you want to pick colors from, then click the 'Pick from Screen' button in our tool. The browser will minimize our tool and let you pick any pixel visible on your screen, including pixels from other browser tabs, desktop applications, or the operating system UI. This is perfect for matching brand colors, extracting a website's color scheme, or capturing a color from a design mockup in Figma or Sketch.

How accurate are the color values?

The tool reads exact pixel values from the image or screen using the browser's native color pipeline. For uploaded images, the accuracy is perfect — the tool reads the raw RGB values from the image file. For screen picking, the accuracy depends on your display's color profile and calibration. Most modern displays use the sRGB color space, which matches the tool's output format. If your display uses a wider gamut (e.g., Display P3 on modern Macs), the picked color may not exactly match the original source color, but the difference is usually imperceptible for design purposes.

Your Privacy is Our Priority

This tool runs entirely in your browser.

We do not upload, store, or analyze your files.
Everything you process stays on your device.
When you upload an image for color picking, it is loaded directly into your browser's memory using the HTML5 Canvas API — it is never transmitted to our servers, stored in a database, or accessible to anyone but you.
The EyeDropper API (used for screen color picking) is a privacy-conscious browser feature that only returns the single pixel color you click, not a screenshot of your screen.
There are no server-side logs capturing your image filenames or picked colors, no analytics tracking your color history, and no persistent storage of any kind.
When you close the browser tab, all image data and color history are cleared from memory immediately.

This makes the tool safe to use for confidential brand assets, client mockups, proprietary designs, and any scenario where visual data should not be exposed to third-party servers.

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