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Color wheel

Combine colors in multiple ways using Picsarts color wheel. Use the color weel to select a primary color and see what combinations look best.

Choose color combination

Complementary

Base Color

Base Color

The Color harmony rules are based on the base color you have set.

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Click to copy

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Click to copy

What is a color wheel?

A color wheel is an illustrative tool that allows users to discover the relationships of different colors to each other, as well as to identify the perfect color to use for anything from artistic creation to advertising or marketing outreach. The initial color wheel was actually developed by Sir Isaac Newton over four centuries ago, but modern color wheels have become much more complex and nuanced as digital technology has allowed us to view very specific changes in the primary colors to create miniscule differences between shades of green, for example. Color wheels are also important in combination with color theory, which is an artistic school of thinking that argues that there are particularly effective and appealing combinations of color for different purposes.

What does HSL mean?

HSL is an abbreviation standing for hue, saturation, and lightness. HSL color values are used in coding and by web browsers to display specific degrees of different colors when they view a website or app, and are especially important for coders, game designers, digital media creators, and more. Hue is a degree on a color wheel, with 0 corresponding to red, 120 to green, and 240 to blue as baseline values. Saturation is represented as a percentage with 0 meaning a shade of gray and 100% the full normal color. Lightness is similarly a percentage, with 0 paired to black and 100% paired to white. By adjusting these different values, a color wheel user can create specific custom colors for any digital need.

Color Combinations

Color combinations refer to the method by which different colors will be selected when using a color wheel. There are several different color combinations that are used to generate custom colors.

Color combinations that combine colors on opposite sides of the color spectrum to create attractive contrasts, such as red and green.

A single-color scheme created by using different tones of a single color.

This color combination involves three colors located next to each other on the color wheel, including one dominant color (usually a primary or secondary color), then a supporting color (a secondary or tertiary color), and a third color that is either a mix of the two first colors, or an accent color that contrasts well.

This combination includes three colors evenly spaced on the color wheel. The two most basic triadic palettes are the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow, as well as the secondary hues orange, purple, and green.

How to use color wheel

1

Select color combination

Use the drop-down menu to choose your preferred color combo, such as monochromatic, complementary, and more.

2

Choose base color

Select a color directly by clicking on the color wheel, or paste in a HEX code if you have it.

3

Copy or export HEX codes

You’ll automatically receive HEX codes to simply click to copy into your website or app to add your chosen created color.

How does a color wheel relate to color harmony?

Color harmony theory is the idea that specific combinations of color (in any of the five methods noted above) create particularly well-blended and aesthetically-pleasing visuals, or communicate specific moods or impressions. Color harmonies are based on geometric shapes (for example, the triadic idea may resemble a square if drawn over the color wheel) which then allows users to adjust HSL values to maintain their color combination while tweaking it for effect or visual stimulation.

What are the different levels of the color wheel?

You can also think of a color wheel generator as structured in three distinct levels which together include twelve distinct hues, with the levels comprised of:
> Primary colors - blue, red, and yellow
> Secondary colors (made by combining two primary colors) - green, orange, and purple
> Tertiary colors (made by combining one primary and one secondary color)
- red-purple - blue-purple, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange, and red-orange.

What are the different levels of the color wheel?

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FAQs

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