Color analysis quiz › Picture to palette

Picture to Palette

Choose an image and this tool extracts its six dominant colors, shows each hex code and share of the picture, then compares them with the 12 seasonal palettes. The file is read in your browser and is not uploaded.

How the palette is extracted

The tool reads the image file locally in your browser. It then scales the picture down to about 120 pixels on the long side, which keeps the color analysis fast and reduces noise from individual pixels. The remaining pixels are grouped into six clusters with k-means clustering, a method that repeatedly assigns each pixel to the nearest of six color centers and then recalculates those centers until they settle.

Each resulting color is shown with its hex code and its share of the picture, so you can see which tones dominate and which are minor. Because the image is reduced before clustering, the six colors are an average of the picture rather than a pixel-by-pixel inventory.

How the season match works

The six extracted colors are converted into CIELAB space, a color model designed so that numerical distance corresponds more closely to perceived difference. Each color is compared with the colors in the 12 seasonal palettes. Every season in the tool has eight core colors and four neutrals.

The comparison produces a distance score for each season, and the three closest seasons are listed with links to their palette pages. The ranking reflects how near the picture's colors sit to a palette's colors overall; it is a similarity measure, not a judgment about who should wear them.

What it cannot tell you

This tool describes the colors in a picture. It does not determine your personal season. A photo of an outfit, a room, a mood board or a painting is analyzed as an image, and the result belongs to that image.

A selfie is a poor input for finding your own season. Lighting, background and the clothing you are wearing all shift the colors the tool extracts, so the result may say more about the conditions of the photo than about you. To find your own season, use the 12-question quiz instead.

Some images skew the result:

• Very busy images with many competing colors produce averages that may not represent any single element well.
• Heavy filters change the colors before analysis, so the output reflects the filter as much as the subject.
• Screenshots with large white interface areas pull the palette toward white and light neutrals.
• The six colors are an average, so small accents such as a scarf, a cushion or a single brushstroke can be missed.

Uses: outfits, rooms, mood boards

The tool is useful when you want to name the colors already present in something you are looking at.

• Outfits: photograph a garment or a full look to see its main colors and their proportions, then check the hex codes when shopping for pieces that coordinate.
• Rooms: analyze a photo of a room to identify the dominant wall, floor and furniture tones before choosing paint, textiles or accessories.
• Mood boards: extract a palette from a collage or reference image to carry a consistent set of colors into a project.
• Artwork and reference images: pull the key colors from a painting or photograph to guide a design, a craft project or a color study.

In each case, treat the output as a description of the image. If a small accent matters, crop the image to that detail and run it again so the accent occupies more of the picture.

Picture to palette FAQ

Is my image uploaded anywhere?

No. The file is read in your browser, scaled down locally, and analyzed there. It is not sent to a server.

Does the result tell me my personal season?

No. It describes the colors in the picture you provide. To find your own season, use the 12-question quiz.

Why does my selfie give a result that seems off?

Lighting, background and clothing affect the colors in a photo, so a selfie reflects those conditions as much as your features. Use the quiz for your own season.

Why are some colors in my image missing from the palette?

The six colors are an average of the whole picture, so small accents can be absorbed into larger clusters. Cropping to the detail you care about gives it more weight.

Find your own season with the quiz

See all palettes: Light Spring · True Spring · Bright Spring · Light Summer · True Summer · Soft Summer · Soft Autumn · True Autumn · Deep Autumn · Deep Winter · True Winter · Bright Winter