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How to Pick a Color from a Website: Tools and Tips for Designers

Introduction: Ever Seen a Color Online and Thought, “I Need That!”?

We’ve all been there—you land on a stunning website, and a particular color catches your eye. Maybe it’s the background, a button, or a headline hue that’s just perfect for your project. But how do you actually pick a color from a website and use it in your own work?

Whether you’re a web designer, marketer, or just curating mood boards, knowing how to get a color palette from a website is a skill that can instantly level up your brand’s aesthetic. In this guide, I’ll walk you through exactly how to find, extract, save, and reuse web colors with ease.

Section Title	Key Concepts	Detailed Information	Suggested Visuals
Introduction	Importance of color picking	Explains why grabbing colors from websites boosts design quality and branding.	Screenshot of a site with a standout color
Tools Overview	Browser & desktop tools	Tools include ColorZilla, Eye Dropper, Pixie, Instant Eyedropper, and Figma’s picker.	Toolbar or extension UI demo
Step-by-Step Guide	How to pick colors	Simple 5-step method: visit site, activate tool, hover, click, paste hex code.	Flowchart or icon-based guide
Full Palette Extraction	Extract complete schemes	Use tools like HTMLColorCodes, Site Palette, and Color Thief to get 3–10-color palettes.	Palette from Airbnb or Spotify
Color Code Types	Understanding codes	Definitions for HEX, RGB, HSL, and how they’re used in web design.	Table comparing HEX, RGB, HSL formats
Pro Tips	Best practices	Tips on naming, contrast, harmony, and responsible use of picked colors.	Table: Do’s and Don’ts
Common Mistakes	Errors to avoid	Warnings about copying gradients, ignoring licensing, and using random colors.	None
Real Examples	Famous site palettes	Breakdown of brands like Spotify, Apple, Dropbox, and Slack with hex codes.	Table showing primary, accent, and background colors per brand
Conclusion	Final advice + CTA	Encourages readers to explore tools and start experimenting with web palettes.	None

Section 1: Why Pick Colors From Websites?

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Many sites already use proven, beautiful, and high-converting color combinations. Picking colors directly from a site lets you:

Speed up your design process
Stay on-trend with modern palettes
Inspire your own web design ideas
Ensure visual harmony across platforms

Use this technique to find color on a website that inspires your landing pages, presentations, email templates, or even physical branding.

Insert image: Screenshot of a beautiful website with a highlighted color section

Section 2: Tools to Pick Any Color From a Website

There are countless free and paid tools that let you pick any color off the screen.

Chrome Extensions (Browser-based)

Tool	Features	Pros	Ideal For
ColorZilla	Color picker + CSS analyzer	Lightweight and fast	Quick inspections
Eye Dropper	Simple eyedropper with palette saving	Open source	Beginners
ColorPick Eyedropper	Zoom view for pixel-accurate selection	Clean interface	Precision tasks

Desktop Tools

Digital Color Meter (Mac) – Built into macOS utilities
Pixie (Windows) – Displays RGB, Hex, CMYK on hover
Instant Eyedropper – Drag-and-drop style picker

Design Platforms

Figma / Canva / Adobe XD – Built-in eyedropper tool for internal projects
Coolors.co – Build a complete color palette around your picked hex code

Suggest inserting a graphic: Toolbar screenshot of a color picking browser extension in use

Section 3: How to Pick a Color from a Website—Step-by-Step

Let’s break it down into a simple process:

Visit the website with the color you love.
Activate your eyedropper tool (browser extension or desktop app).
Hover over the color—you’ll see the Hex/RGB values pop up.
Click to capture—the code is now copied or stored in your palette.
Paste it into your design tool like Figma, Canva, Photoshop, or CSS.

Voilà—you’ve just extracted a pixel-perfect color.

Insert infographic: 5-step color picking flowchart with icons

Section 4: How to Get a Full Color Palette from a Website

Sometimes you want more than one color—you want the whole look. Here’s how to get a color palette from a website:

Use Palette Generators:

Tool	How It Works	Link
HTML Color Codes	Paste a URL to get dominant colors	htmlcolorcodes.com
Site Palette	Chrome extension, exports to Sketch or Adobe	sitepalette.io
Color Thief	JavaScript library to extract colors from images	lokeshdhakar.com/projects/color-thief

Steps:

Enter the website URL.
Tool scans images, CSS, and dominant background elements.
Outputs a palette of 3–10 core colors.
You can download them or export to your design tools.

Insert image: Palette extracted from Airbnb.com or Spotify.com

Section 5: Understanding Color Codes (HEX, RGB, HSL)

When you find color on a website, you’ll usually get a hex code—like #1DB954—but what does it mean?

HEX: 6-digit web-safe color (used in HTML/CSS)
RGB: Red, Green, Blue values (e.g., rgb(29, 185, 84))
HSL: Hue, Saturation, Lightness (e.g., hsl(140, 65%, 42%))

Most tools let you copy-paste any of these into your workflow depending on the software you use.

Section 6: Pro Tips for Working With Picked Colors

Always test contrast: Use WebAIM Contrast Checker to ensure accessibility
Use color harmony: Tools like Coolors can build analogous or complementary schemes
Name and label your palette: “Brand Green,” “CTA Blue,” etc.
Limit usage: Use picked colors for headlines, buttons, or accents—not every element

Insert table: Do’s and Don’ts of color usage from external websites

Section 7: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even with the right tools, there are pitfalls:

Picking from shadows or gradients – You’ll get muddy tones
Ignoring licensing – Don’t copy brand identity colors too closely
Picking random colors without purpose – Make sure it fits your brand vibe
Using too many colors – Stick to 2–4 main ones

Smart color use boosts brand recognition, click-through rates, and design cohesion.

Section 8: Examples of Well-Picked Color Palettes From Real Sites

Here are a few famous sites and their palette breakdowns:

Brand	Color Use	Primary Color	Accent Color	Background
Spotify	CTA + logo	#1DB954	#191414	#FFFFFF
Dropbox	Soft branding	#007EE5	#FF6F61	#F7F9FA
Apple	Minimalism	#A3AAAE	#000000	#FFFFFF
Slack	UI + playful palette	#4A154B	#ECB22E	#F8F8FA

These sites show how to pick a color from a website and scale it across their entire branding system.

1. How Do I Pick a Color From a Website?

To pick a color from a website, you can use a browser extension like ColorZilla or Eye Dropper (available for Chrome and Firefox). Simply activate the tool, hover over the area on the site with the color you want, and click. The hex code (e.g., #FF5733) will be copied to your clipboard for use in your design tool, CSS file, or branding palette. This is the most efficient way to find color on a website in real time.

2. What’s the Best Tool to Get a Color Palette From a Website?

Several tools can help you get a color palette from a website:

Site Palette: Chrome extension that generates full palettes
HTML Color Codes: Paste in any URL and extract core colors
Color Thief: Extracts dominant colors from an image
Coolors.co: Build palettes around selected hex codes

These tools are essential if you’re looking to go beyond just one color and want to pick any color plus its complementary tones.

3. Can I Pick Any Color From a Website Without Coding Knowledge?

Yes! Tools like ColorPick Eyedropper and Instant Eyedropper require no coding at all. They offer point-and-click interfaces, making it easy for beginners to pick any color just by hovering over a website element. Even platforms like Figma and Canva have integrated color pickers to sample screen colors effortlessly.

4. How Do I Copy a Color Code From a Website to My Design Tool?

Once you use an eyedropper or color picker extension:

Click on the desired pixel
The tool displays the hex color code (e.g., #3498db)
Press “copy” or auto-copy if supported
Paste into your design software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Figma, Canva)

It’s that simple. The ability to pick a color from a website and apply it instantly helps ensure visual consistency across platforms.

5. Is It Legal to Use Colors From Another Website?

Colors are not copyrighted. However, directly duplicating a full brand color palette could create confusion or dilute your own identity. The best practice is to get a color palette from a website as inspiration, then customize it to suit your brand by adjusting hues, saturation, or pairing it with original content.

6. How Can I Find Out What Color Code Is Used in a Website Header or Button?

Use your browser’s Developer Tools:

Right-click on the element
Click “Inspect”
Look at the CSS style properties
Find values like background-color: #FF5733

Alternatively, use a color selector tool to find color on a website by hovering and clicking.

7. Can I Pick Multiple Colors From the Same Website?

Yes. Tools like Site Palette, ColorZilla’s palette generator, and HTML Color Codes allow you to scan a webpage and output multiple colors—background, accents, buttons, and typography. You can then use the full palette in your own design workflow.

8. What Is the Difference Between Hex, RGB, and HSL When Picking Colors?

When you pick any color from a site, you’ll often see:

HEX (e.g., #3498db): Six-digit web-friendly color format
RGB (e.g., rgb(52, 152, 219)): Breakdown of Red, Green, Blue
HSL (e.g., hsl(204, 70%, 53%)): Hue, Saturation, Lightness

Most tools let you toggle between these formats depending on the platform you’re using (CSS, Photoshop, etc.).

9. Can I Extract Colors From an Image on a Website?

Yes, you can get a color palette from a website image using:

Color Thief – Upload or scan an image
Coolors Image Picker – Drag and drop to build a palette
Canva’s Photo Colors Tool – Automatic extraction from uploaded images

This is especially useful for mood boards, content branding, or product design.

10. What Are Some Free Browser Extensions to Pick Website Colors?

Here are a few free, reliable extensions:

ColorZilla – Eyedropper, gradient analyzer, CSS copy
Eye Dropper – Open-source with palette support
ColorPick Eyedropper – Precise zoom & pixel picker
Site Palette – URL-based color extractor with Google integration

Each helps you find color on a website in just seconds.

11. Can I Use Picked Colors in Canva, Figma, or Photoshop?

Absolutely. Once you copy a hex code or RGB value, paste it directly into:

Canva: Paste into color picker or brand kit
Figma: Use the style panel to enter HEX/RGB
Photoshop: Open the color picker and paste into the HEX box

This seamless workflow lets you use picked colors across all design environments.

12. How Do I Build a Full Brand Palette Using Website Colors?

Here’s how to go from one picked color to a full brand system:

Use a tool like Coolors.co or ColorSpace
Paste your picked color as the base
Generate analogous, complementary, triadic schemes
Export as a palette for branding kits, UI designs, or social graphics

You can start with one color from a website and build a whole cohesive identity.

13. What Is the Best Way to Organize Picked Colors for Projects?

Best practices include:

Naming colors by role (e.g., “Primary Blue”, “CTA Red”)
Saving palettes in your design tool’s asset library
Using style guides to apply them consistently
Creating a visual color library in Notion, Figma, or Canva

Organizing your picked colors streamlines collaboration and keeps branding tight.

14. Can I Pick Colors on Mobile From a Website?

Yes, although options are more limited:

iOS: Use third-party apps like Pixel Picker or take a screenshot and use photo editing tools to extract colors
Android: Try Pixolor, Color Grab, or Photoshop Express for mobile color picking

It’s a bit more manual than desktop, but still effective for grabbing colors from websites on the go.

15. What Should I Avoid When Picking Colors From a Website?

Avoid these mistakes:

Sampling gradients or shadows – May result in unclear or dull colors
Overusing picked colors – Your brand should be inspired, not cloned
Ignoring accessibility – Test picked colors for contrast (especially for text)
Forgetting to credit mood board sources – Be ethical if you’re publishing designs

Use web color inspiration responsibly and make it your own.

Conclusion: Turn Web Color Inspiration Into Design Action

With the right tools, anyone can pick a color from a website, extract full palettes, and apply them across creative projects. Whether you’re building a site, crafting graphics, or refreshing your brand identity, those digital hues you admire are just a click away.

So the next time a website stops you in your tracks—grab the color, save it, and make it your own.

Now it’s your turn. Got a favorite site you want to sample colors from? Try a tool from this list and share your results in the comments.

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