Apps / Color Picker / Manual

Color Picker user manual

Every screen of Color Picker and what it is for: picking colors, mixing paint, matching pencils, building palettes and exporting them to the apps you use.

Version 5.1 · Updated October 4, 2026

Getting started

The first time you open the app it asks who you are: an artist, a designer, or a bit of both. Your answer only changes which tools Home shows first, and you can change it later in Settings. You can then pick a first photo to start with, or skip.

Home: Featured tools at the top, then every tool, filtered by category: For Artists, Capture, AI & Generation, Palette, Analyze, Transform and Explore.
Palette: Pick at Position: pick colors from a photo. The app remembers your last photo and palette.
My Colors: Everything you have saved, grouped by the tool it came from.
Settings: Your plan, iCloud backup, language, notifications and help.

On iPad the tabs sit in a sidebar, with shortcuts to Paint Mixer, Pencil Match, Value Study, Master Palettes, Harmony and Palette Studio.

Pick colors from a photo

Pick at Position is the Palette tab. It reads the exact pixel of the original photo, whatever the zoom.

Tap the photo button and choose the camera, your library or a recent photo. A new photo starts with its 5 main colors.
Tap anywhere on the photo to pick that color. Drag with one finger to move the picker live; lift your finger to keep the color.
Touch and hold to bring up a magnifier just above your finger for precise picking.
Pinch to zoom, and use two fingers to move around a zoomed photo.
Switch between Pixel (one pixel) and Area (the average of 9 × 9 pixels) at the top. Area is better for noisy photos and textures.

Palette slots: Up to 16 colors. Select a slot to repick it, lock it, delete it or sort the palette. Undo goes back up to 20 steps.
Pencil match: The closest colored pencil for the selected color, with the pencil line you choose.
Harmony: Colors that go with the selected one.
Pixel gridPRO: At 8× zoom and more, a grid shows each pixel.

Pick colors live from the camera

Open Live Camera from Home and allow camera access when iOS asks.
Point the camera at something. The color under the center reticle shows with its name and HEX code, and a strip below shows the 5 main colors in view.
Choose a frame shape (1:1, 4:3, 16:9, 3:2, 2:1, 9:16 or none), turn on the flash or switch to the front camera if you need to.
Tap the shutter to capture. In the review, tap the center color to copy it, tap any color to open it in Color Hub, or save the palette. Retake goes back to the camera.

Turn off Live colors to stop sampling while you frame the shot.
Photo Palette pulls the main colors out of any photo, with how much of the picture each one covers.

Color Hub: everything about one color

Open Hex Info from Home, or tap any color anywhere in the app.

Enter a color: Paste a 3- or 6-digit HEX code, or tap the dice for a random color.
Codes: HEX, RGB, HSL, HSB, CMYK, LAB and XYZ. Tap a code to copy it.
Insights: Contrast, value, how it looks with color blindness, the nearest pencil and harmonies. Each one opens the matching tool.
Related colors and shades: 5 related colors and 10 shades. Tap one to make it the new center color.
Open in…: Send the color to any other tool.

Tools for painters and illustrators

These tools work with real media: paint tubes and colored pencils (Faber-Castell Polychromos and Prismacolor Premier). Some pencil lines need Pro.

Paint Mixer: Choose acrylic, oil or watercolor, then set a target color with the sliders, the eyedropper or a basic mix. You get a recipe from your tubes and see the target next to your mix. One recipe is free; two more recipes and mixing from only some of your tubes need Pro.
Paint Match: Find the closest pencils for a color, within My Supplies or one pencil line. The best match and 2 runners-up are free. You also get tints and shades and the steps to layer the color with pencils, and you can mark pencils as owned.
Reference Study: Load a reference photo and switch between Photo, Value, Notan and Pencils. Add a grid (3, 4, 6 or 8), mirror the image or squint. Touch the photo to read its value, L* and HEX. Notan with 5 levels needs Pro; the Pencils view is free 3 times a day.
Skin Tone Picker: Open a portrait (or use the front camera). The app places highlight, midtone and shadow markers on the face; drag them to adjust. You get each tone's value, HEX and undertone. The midtone pencil is free; the highlight and shadow pencils and an acrylic recipe need Pro.
My Supplies: Tick the pencils you own, or tap I own the whole set. Paint Match and Reference Study can then search only your pencils. Export your set to Procreate or Adobe.
My Swatches: Photograph a real swatch: mark the paper first, then the swatch. The app corrects the white balance and finds the nearest pencil. 10 swatches are free.
Procreate Palette: Turn a photo into a Procreate .swatches file. 10 colors are free (15, 20 or 30 with Pro). Sort by hue, area or light to dark, then export and open the file in Procreate.
Master Palettes: Palettes from public-domain paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago. Each color shows its nearest pencil, how close it is and how much of the painting it covers. 6 paintings are free; the rest need Pro.
Gamut Mask and Color Atlas: See a palette on the color wheel by value and chroma, and browse colors page by page by hue.

Palettes and design tools

Palette StudioPRO: Build a palette of 3 to 8 colors. Lock the ones you like, then reroll the rest (or shake the device). Drag to reorder.
Color Harmony: Complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic, split-complementary, square and monochromatic schemes from one color.
Shades & Tints: Lighter, darker and muted versions of a color in even steps.
Color Mixer: Blend two colors and see the result.
Contrast Check: Check a text color on a background against WCAG AA and AAA.
Color Blindness: See colors as people with protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia or achromatopsia see them.
Color Name: The closest named color for any code.
Brand ColorPRO: Describe a brand or a mood and get a full palette, previewed on cards, packaging and screens.
Gradient GenPRO: Gradient sets built from your colors.
AI Color HubPRO: Answer a few questions and get a palette.

Photo tools

Color GradingPRO: Film-style looks and LUTs for your photos.
Color TransferPRO: Match the colors of a photo to a reference photo.
Remove BGPRO: Cut the subject out of a photo.
Live Color TrackingPRO: The top colors in front of the camera, over time.
Color AttentionsPRO: Where the eye goes in a picture, and the colors there.

My Colors

Everything you save lands in My Colors, grouped by the tool it came from. Tap an item to reopen it in that tool.

Find: Search by name, HEX or tag, filter by tool, and switch between grid and list.
Touch and hold: Copy HEX, open in a tool, Color Hub, Palette Hub, export, select or delete.
Select several: Tap the check button, pick items, then export or delete them together.
iCloud: With iCloud backup on, pull down to refresh and get colors saved on your other devices.

Save and export

Tools that make a palette end with the same share bar.

Save to Project: Saves the palette to My Colors. Always free.
Code: CSS, SCSS, Swift, Flutter, Kotlin, Android XML, Tailwind, MUI, Figma, JSON and HTML.
Files: Image, print, Procreate .swatches, Adobe .ase, CSV and TXT.

Formats with a crown need Pro.

Settings

Account: Shows Free or Pro. Upgrade, Restore purchases, or redeem an offer code.
iCloud backup: Keeps your saved colors in your private iCloud account and on your other devices.
Language: Use the system language or choose one. The app restarts to apply it.
I am…: Artist or designer: changes which tools Home shows first.
Notifications and privacy choices: Turn notifications on or off, and review your privacy choices.
Clear cache: Frees the space used by downloaded images and color data.

Color Picker Pro

Tools and options marked PRO need Color Picker Pro, a monthly or yearly subscription that renews automatically. The price for your country is shown in the app before you buy. Cancel any time in your Apple Account settings (Settings → your name → Subscriptions), at least 24 hours before the current period ends.

Bought Pro on another device or reinstalled the app? Open Settings and tap Restore purchases.

Troubleshooting

The camera or photos do not open: Open the iPhone or iPad Settings → Color Picker and allow Camera and Photos.
Colors are missing on my other device: Sign in to the same iCloud account on both, turn on iCloud backup in the app's Settings, then pull down to refresh in My Colors.
A picked color looks different from the real thing: The camera and the light change colors. Pick from a photo taken in daylight, and use Area instead of Pixel on textured surfaces.
Pro is not unlocked: Open Settings and tap Restore purchases, using the Apple Account you bought Pro with.

Still stuck? Write to [email protected]. See also the Color Picker page, the terms of use and the privacy policy.