Choosing an effective color scheme for your business mega traffic website can be a difficult decision. However, by learning the basics of color theory and experimenting with color palette generator on the web, you’ll be able to choose harmonious color schemes and palettes on your very own!

So what is color theory anyways? Color Theory is based upon the principal guidance of color mixing and the visual effect of a specific color combination by use of a color wheel. The traditional color wheel called the color circle was based on red, yellow and blue. Over the years, the color circle has evolved into the color wheel which presents a larger range of colors and more importantly the relationship between primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

Color theory

Primary colors, secondary colors and complementary colors

• Primary colors are made up of 3 pigments. Red, yellow and blue. Can not be mixed or formed by any combination. But all other colors come from mixing these colors.
• Secondary colors are green, orange and purple. They are formed by mixing the primary colors.
• Tertiary colors are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue green and yellow-green. They are formed by mixing a primary color and a secondary color.

Harmonious color combinations

By using a color wheel we are also able to determine harmonious color combinations with any 2, 3 or 4 colors. These harmonious color combinations are called color schemes.

They are comprised of Monochromatic, Analogous, Complementary, Split Complementary, Triadic and Tetradic.

Color combinations

• Monochromatic color scheme is comprised of tints, tones and shades of a single hue.
• Analogous color scheme is a group of 3 colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
• Complementary  scheme is made from 2 colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel.
• Split-Complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme that uses 2 colors adjacent to it’s complement.
• Triadic scheme use colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel.
• Tetradic color scheme uses 4 colors arranged into 2 complementary pairs.

To understand color theory better, you’ll also need to understand warm and cool colors. Warm colors are the yellows and reds of the color spectrum that transmit happiness and energy. Cool colors are the blues and greens of the color spectrum that convey calmness and peace.

Now that you have a basic understanding of color theory you can start experimenting with color tools that are available online! I’ve gathered together a list of some awesome tools to help you perfect your color scheme choices.

Color wheel

A color wheel or color circle is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle, which shows the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors etc.

Some sources use the terms color wheel and color circle interchangeably however, one term or the other may be more prevalent in certain fields or certain versions as mentioned above. For instance, some reserve the term color wheel for mechanical rotating devices, such as color tops or filter wheels. Others classify various color wheels as color disc, color chart, and color scale varieties.

As an illustrative model, artists typically use red, yellow, and blue primaries (RYB color model). Arranged at three equally spaced points around their color wheel. Printers and others who use modern subtractive color methods and terminology use magenta, yellow, and cyan as subtractive primaries.

Intermediate and interior points of color wheels and circles represent color mixtures. In a paint or subtractive color wheel, the “center of gravity” is usually (but not always) black. On the other hand, the center is white or gray, indicating a mixture of different wavelengths of light (all wavelengths, or two complementary colors, for example).

Original color circle of Isaac Newton showed only the spectral hues.

Each spectral color present (represented in his diagram by small circles).

The divisions of Newton’s circle are of unequal size. Being based on the intervals of a Dorian musical scale. Most later color circles include the purples. However, between red and violet, and have equal-sized hue divisions. Color scientists and psychologists often use the additive primaries, red, green and blue; and often refer to their arrangement around a circle as a color circle as opposed to a color wheel

Color palette generation scheme

Color palette generator Adobe Color

Adobe Color is a free and open platform and has useful features – you can sign in to Creative Cloud to save your Color Theme, created from color wheel or image. You can then use your saved color themes, in Adobe products (Photoshop, Illustrator, Fresco, etc.), via Adobe color theme panel or CC Libraries.

Adobe Color have this features:

Color Wheel has useful options to set up your results you can Apply Color Harmony Rule: Analogous, Monochromatic, Triad, Complementary, Split Complementary, Double Split Complementary, Square, Compound, Shades, Custom.

Extract Theme can extract color from an image and save them as a color palette.

Extract Gradient you can extract gradient from an image and save them as color gradients.

Accessibility Tools Using Adobe Color’s accessibility color tools from the start allows you to find accessible colors directly on the color wheel.

Color palette generator Coolors

Coolors is a super easy and fast color scheme generator. The generator loads 5 harmonious colors to create a new color scheme. If you don’t like what it comes up with then just hit the space bar. Fly through endless color possibilities.

Color palette generator Flat UI Colors

With Flat UI being one of the most popular trends, this website will ensure that you’re selecting the most popular Fat UI colors. You’ll have to be a bit more careful about what colors you pair together. Most of these colors look great together anyways!

Color palette generator Color Scheme Designer 3

Color Scheme Designer 3 is a great designer tool for creating color combinations that work well together. It works great for random color generation but is even better for when you have that specific color in mind. This tool will help you come up with a harmonious color scheme to go along with any color!

Color palette generator Colormind

Colormind can extract color palettes from images. Instead of finding the most representative colors, it aims to find good colors that work together in a color palette. The algorithm works in a semi-random way, so click generate again to see different results

Colormind generate image colors

Color palette generator Canva

The easiest place to get colors from your photos. Use this color palette to create beautiful designs and documents! For endless color palette ideas, you can visit canvas color combinations resource

Canva color combinations tool

Color palette generator Colorhunt

Color Palettes ideas for Designers and Artists

Color Hunt is a free and open platform for color inspiration with thousands of trendy hand-picked color palettes. You can filter this palettes in 3 different ways trendy, popular, and random.

Color palette generator Color Drop

Color Drop is similar to Color Hunt but has more features as flat colors, scan image, color code converter, gradient generator.

Color Drop is a free platform for color inspiration with hundreds of rated color palettes. You can filter these palettes in 3 different ways new, popular, and random.

Color palette generator Color space

Never waste Hours on finding the perfect Color Palette again!

Feel free to use the color palettes or gradients in your project.  Color space is one place where you can find matching colors, generate nice color palettes and learn more about color conversions and meaning. Sometimes it is hard to find inspiration for a good color scheme or you do not have the time to experiment until you find matching colors. To facilitate this process, Color space investigated this set of tools and want to share it with you.

Color palette generator Muzli Colors

With Muzil Colors you can Create Beautiful Color Schemes that works in tree different way:

• By color code or name
• By selecting an initial color from the list
• By uploading your photo

Color palette generator BrandColors

BrandColors have the biggest collection of official brand color codes around the world.

Color palette generator Khroma

Khroma uses AI to learn which colors you like and creates limitless palettes for you to discover, search, and save. Just choose a set of your favorite colors. These colors will be used to train a color generator algorithm personalized to you.