Are the CMYK values exact?

No — they are a simple, profile-free conversion for reference. Accurate CMYK requires your printer’s ICC profile.

Why do I get slightly different colours each time I change the count?

Clustering finds the best group averages for the number of colours you request, so the groups shift as the count changes.

Color Palette Extractor

How to use the Color Palette Extractor

Upload an image or try the sample.

Choose how many colours to extract (2–16).

Click anywhere on the image to add an exact colour.

Sort by coverage, lightness or hue and remove colours you don’t need.

Download as .aco for Photoshop, .ase for Illustrator/InDesign, .gpl, CSS or a PNG card.

From inspiration to swatches

Designers often start a collection from a photograph, a vintage textile or a mood board. This extractor finds the dominant colour groups, tells you how much of the image each one covers, and exports them in formats you can load straight into your design software.

Supported downloads

Format	Use it in
.aco	Photoshop — Swatches panel → Import Swatches
.ase	Illustrator, InDesign and other Adobe apps
.gpl	GIMP, Inkscape, Krita
.png card	Presentations, client approvals, mood boards
.css	Websites and brand guides

Example

Extract six colours from a photo of hand-dyed indigo cloth, remove the two background greys, add an exact accent with the eyedropper, and download an .aco file to colour your next block-print design.