FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

What is PhotoTones Pro?

PhotoTones Pro is a $7/month subscription for people who ship color deliverables — freelancers, agencies, and design-system teams — not casual hex lookup. It unlocks a one-click brand kit ZIP (print-ready guide + all exports); design tokens (W3C, Tokens Studio, Style Dictionary, Tailwind v4 @theme); Figma Variables JSON; light/dark theme CSS; full-resolution composites; extended palettes up to 12 colors; Adobe ASE, Tailwind, SCSS, CSS, and Procreate exports; and a WCAG contrast grid. If you only need hex codes, stay on the free tool. Cancel anytime from Stripe.

What is an image-to-color-palette generator?

An image-to-color-palette generator is a tool that analyzes the pixels in a photo and extracts the most prominent colors. PhotoTones uses a JavaScript algorithm to identify up to six color categories — Vibrant, Dark Vibrant, Light Vibrant, Muted, Dark Muted, and Light Muted — and returns their hex codes and RGB values.

How do I extract colors from an image?

Click "Choose an image" and select a file from your device. Once the image appears in the preview, click "Generate Color Palette." PhotoTones analyzes the image in your browser and displays up to six color swatches with hex codes. Click any swatch to copy the code, or use the bulk copy buttons.

Is PhotoTones free?

The core tool is completely free — no registration and no usage caps. Stay free if you only need hex, RGB, or HSL codes plus a low-resolution composite. PhotoTones Pro ($7/month) is for shipping deliverables: brand kit ZIP, design tokens, Figma JSON, theme CSS, full-resolution downloads, extended palettes, and WCAG tools. Cancel anytime.

Are my images private?

Yes. All processing runs locally in your browser. Your images are never uploaded to any server, never stored, and never shared with third parties. PhotoTones is safe to use with confidential or proprietary images.

What image formats are supported?

PhotoTones supports JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP, BMP, SVG, and any other image format your browser can display.

Can I get different palettes from the same image?

Yes. Click "Generate Color Palette" multiple times after uploading an image. PhotoTones applies subtle variations to surface different color groupings from the same source image.

Can I download my photo with the color swatches?

Yes. After generating a palette, click the download button. Free users can download a low resolution JPEG composite (50% of the original image size) with swatches arranged at the bottom for landscape images or along the right side for portrait images. PhotoTones Pro users can download at full resolution in JPEG or lossless PNG format.

What color codes does PhotoTones provide?

PhotoTones displays hex color codes on each swatch. You can copy individual hex values or use the bulk buttons to copy all hex codes or all RGB values at once. These are ready to paste into CSS, Figma, Sketch, Adobe tools, or any development environment.

What is the best free color palette generator from an image?

PhotoTones is among the best free color palette generators from an image because it runs entirely in your browser — no upload, no signup, and results in under 1 second. The free plan extracts 6 colors with hex, RGB, and HSL codes from JPG, PNG, WebP, and other formats. PhotoTones Pro ($7/month) extends palettes to 12 colors and adds brand kit exports, design tokens, and Figma workflows.

How do I get hex codes from a photo?

Open PhotoTones at phototones.com, click “Choose an image” and select your photo, then click “Generate Color Palette.” PhotoTones analyzes the image locally in under 1 second and displays hex codes on each swatch. Click any swatch to copy a single hex code, or use “Copy All HEX” to copy every value at once.

Can I extract colors from an image without uploading it?

Yes. PhotoTones processes images entirely in your browser using JavaScript and the HTML5 Canvas API — your photo is never uploaded to any server. Select a file from your device and PhotoTones reads it locally, extracts up to 6 colors on the free plan (12 on Pro), and returns hex, RGB, and HSL codes without transmitting image data over the network.