How does the reduction choose colors?

It extracts the photo's dominant colors with a diversity-aware pass (small but distinct regions are kept, near-duplicates merged), then keeps the top set at your chosen count. Every color returned is a real pixel from your photo, never an invented average.

What do the mix recipes mean?

For each photo color your working set leaves out, the tool searches every pair of your set across mixing ratios using a pigment-style subtractive mix and reports the closest match with its ΔE distance. Under about 2.3 reads identical; under 10 is close; higher means that color likely needs its own pigment or dye.

Does this work for any medium?

The plan applies wherever pigments mix subtractively: watercolor, acrylic, oil, gouache, dye, and glaze. Brands granulate and stain differently, so treat recipes as a studio starting plan and confirm with a real test swatch.

Is my photo uploaded anywhere?

No. The image is read entirely in your browser with canvas; nothing is stored or sent. Close the tab and it is gone.

How many colors should a limited palette have?

Three to six pigments plus white covers most subjects; the Zorn set famously does portraits with four. Start the slider low: if the recipes report every missing color under ΔE 10, your set is big enough, and smaller sets make stronger paintings.

What is the best limited palette for beginners?

A warm and cool of each primary plus an earth and a white. It teaches temperature control, mixes clean secondaries, and fails politely. The three classic sets above are all beginner-safe; open any chip for that pigment's full page and mixing behavior.

Studio tool

Limited palette reducer

Turn a reference photo into a working set of three to eight colors, see the set as a value plan, and learn which of the photo's remaining colors your set can reach by mixing. Built for every medium that mixes like pigment: paint, dye, glaze, ink.

How this works

1 Drop in a reference photo, paste one, or pick a demo.
2 Slide the count: the photo reduces to that many real colors, ranked by coverage.
3 Read the value plan and the pigment-mix recipes, then carry the set into the generator or blend lab.

Drop a reference photo here, paste one, or pick a demo.

Photos never leave your device.

Working colors: 5

The photo reduces to this many colors, ordered by coverage.

The canon

Three classic limited palettes to beat

Painters have run studios on sets this small for centuries. Every chip below resolves to its real registry page; open one in the generator or the blend lab and stress-test it like your own.

Zorn-style portrait set

Four pigments that cover an entire portrait's flesh, shadow, and air. The famous proof that coverage beats count.

Yellow Ochre #C39143 Cadmium Red #E30022 Black #000000 Titanium White #E4E4E4

Zorn-style portrait set Open in generator Preview Recolor

Earth landscape triad

Two earths and a deep blue mix greens, grays, and skies; the classic plein-air kit that fits in one pocket.

Burnt Sienna #A93400 Yellow Ochre #C39143 Prussian Blue #003366 Titanium White #E4E4E4

Earth landscape triad Open in generator Preview Recolor

Modern primary set

Three transparent, high-chroma moderns that mix the widest gamut a three-color set can reach.

Quinacridone Magenta #8E3A59 Hansa Yellow #E9D66C Phthalo Blue #000F89 Titanium White #E4E4E4

Modern primary set Open in generator Preview Recolor

Guide

Why limited palettes work

A small set of colors forces harmony: when every mixture on the piece descends from the same few parents, the result holds together without effort. That is why classical painters worked from three to six pigments, and why dye artists plan a piece around one small set.

The catch is coverage. A set that cannot reach the reference's key colors by mixing produces a fight, not a painting. The recipes below the reducer answer exactly that question before you commit: for each color your set leaves out, the closest two-color pigment mix and how far it lands, measured in ΔE.

Values matter more than hues once you are working. The value plan strip orders your set light to dark with its measured lightness, so you can check the piece will read at distance before the first stroke or the first dye bath.

FAQ

Common questions

How does the reduction choose colors?: It extracts the photo's dominant colors with a diversity-aware pass (small but distinct regions are kept, near-duplicates merged), then keeps the top set at your chosen count. Every color returned is a real pixel from your photo, never an invented average.
What do the mix recipes mean?: For each photo color your working set leaves out, the tool searches every pair of your set across mixing ratios using a pigment-style subtractive mix and reports the closest match with its ΔE distance. Under about 2.3 reads identical; under 10 is close; higher means that color likely needs its own pigment or dye.
Does this work for any medium?: The plan applies wherever pigments mix subtractively: watercolor, acrylic, oil, gouache, dye, and glaze. Brands granulate and stain differently, so treat recipes as a studio starting plan and confirm with a real test swatch.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?: No. The image is read entirely in your browser with canvas; nothing is stored or sent. Close the tab and it is gone.
How many colors should a limited palette have?: Three to six pigments plus white covers most subjects; the Zorn set famously does portraits with four. Start the slider low: if the recipes report every missing color under ΔE 10, your set is big enough, and smaller sets make stronger paintings.
What is the best limited palette for beginners?: A warm and cool of each primary plus an earth and a white. It teaches temperature control, mixes clean secondaries, and fails politely. The three classic sets above are all beginner-safe; open any chip for that pigment's full page and mixing behavior.

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