How It Works

This tool applies your colors to a set of common interface elements (headers, buttons, cards, links, forms, alerts, and content blocks) so you can judge the palette in context. As you tweak values, the preview updates instantly so you can see how your choices behave on real surfaces, not just on isolated swatches. You can also choose different layout presets—like a marketing landing page or a dashboard—so the same palette is tested under very different density and hierarchy conditions.

Behind the scenes, the tester treats your palette as a token system. Rather than naming colors by usage (“blue-500”), it focuses on role (“background”, “surface”, “text”, “primary”, “secondary”, “accent”, “border”). That role-based approach mirrors how modern design systems and CSS theming work, and it makes your palette much easier to evolve. If the background changes later, you update one token and the whole UI follows.

Steps

• 1) Choose a preset or start from scratch. Pick a ready-made palette to bootstrap your work, then fine-tune it for your brand personality.
• 2) Set your core tokens. Define background and surface colors first, then pick a text color that stays readable across both.
• 3) Add emphasis colors. Choose a primary color for calls-to-action and active states, plus a secondary or accent for subtle highlights and variety.
• 4) Preview the palette live. Switch layouts and interact with elements to see if the hierarchy feels clear and the overall tone feels intentional.
• 5) Generate a contrast report. Run checks on key pairings like text-on-background and text-on-primary to identify weak combinations early.
• 6) Export tokens for implementation. Copy a CSS variables snippet that matches the palette roles, so it’s simple to implement and maintain.

Key Features

Live preview on realistic components

Swatches alone can be misleading because context changes perception. This tester shows your palette on buttons, navigation, cards, badges, inputs, tables, and content sections so you can evaluate harmony, hierarchy, and readability where it matters. You can quickly spot problems like links that look like plain text, buttons that blend into the background, or borders that are too faint to separate surfaces.

In addition, the preview uses a balanced mix of large and small text. That matters because small text is where contrast issues usually appear first, and it’s also where users feel fatigue if the palette is too bright or too muted.

Multiple layout presets to stress-test density

Colors can look great on a spacious hero banner but fall apart on dense dashboards. With layout presets, you can test the same palette in different compositions: a marketing layout with high visual impact, a dashboard layout with many surfaces and subtle separators, and a card-based layout similar to e-commerce or portfolio grids. This helps you choose colors that are not only attractive, but resilient across product areas.

If you work on multi-page websites or SaaS products, this stress-testing step is essential. A palette that survives both “airy” and “dense” layouts is far less likely to require rework later.

Accessibility-minded contrast reporting

Contrast issues often show up late—after copywriting, states, and components multiply. The built-in report checks important foreground/background pairs and highlights combinations that are likely to fail common WCAG thresholds for normal text. You get clear ratios, pass/fail indicators, and helpful recommendations (such as choosing a lighter or darker “on-primary” text color).

Accessibility is not just a compliance checkbox. Better contrast improves readability, reduces bounce rates, and makes interfaces feel higher quality. Even users without visual impairments notice when text is hard to read or when buttons lack clarity.

CSS variables export for design systems

Export a clean set of CSS custom properties you can paste into a stylesheet, a theme module, or a component library. A consistent token layer makes dark mode, theming, and future iterations dramatically easier. You can map these tokens into Tailwind config, CSS Modules, styled-components, or plain CSS—tokens stay stable regardless of technology.

Because variables are role-based, they remain meaningful over time. You can redesign your brand without renaming every class, and you can build components that automatically adapt to new themes.

Preset palettes and quick iteration workflow

Starting from a blank palette can be slow. Presets give you a practical foundation with balanced contrast and sensible surface separation. From there, you can tune hue, saturation, and brightness to match your brand while keeping the functional structure intact. This is especially useful if you need a professional result quickly, or if you are working with clients who want to see multiple directions.

Optional custom HTML sandbox preview

If you have a small snippet of markup—like a pricing table, feature grid, or product card—you can preview it inside a safe sandboxed frame while applying the same palette tokens. This helps you validate your palette against real content and structure. The sandbox approach is designed to reduce risk: scripts are disabled, and the snippet remains isolated while still benefiting from your colors and base typography.

This feature is ideal for developers who want to test a component quickly before implementing tokens across the whole codebase.

Use Cases

• Brand refresh: Compare several candidate palettes against the same UI and pick a direction that feels consistent, modern, and on-brand.
• Design systems: Define tokens (background/surface/text/primary/accent) before you build components so everything scales cleanly as the library grows.
• Dark mode planning: Validate that your dark surfaces and text colors remain readable without washing out accent colors or making borders invisible.
• Accessibility reviews: Run quick contrast checks to catch risky combinations before shipping or handing off to QA.
• Marketing pages: Test how brand colors behave in hero sections, call-to-action buttons, and long-form content blocks with headings, lists, and links.
• Product dashboards: Preview dense layouts where subtle borders, surfaces, and muted text become critical to clarity and scanning.
• Client approvals: Provide a visual preview plus an exportable token list so stakeholders can evaluate direction without needing design software.
• Template customization: If you purchased a theme or admin template, quickly match its structure to your brand colors and identify what needs adjustment.

Whether you are a designer refining a theme or a developer implementing tokens, the fastest path to a strong palette is rapid iteration. This tool compresses that loop into minutes by combining swatches, layout previews, and export-ready tokens. It also encourages a disciplined approach: you can keep your palette small and purposeful, then expand into semantic colors (success/warning/danger) only after the core roles are solid.

Optimization Tips

Start with surfaces, not accents

Many palettes fail because the background and surface colors are too close, or because text contrast is an afterthought. Choose your background, surface, and text first. Once those three work well together, accents become easier to tune. A good rule of thumb is to ensure the “surface” color is visibly different from the background without being distracting, and to keep borders subtle but present.

When in doubt, make surfaces slightly lighter than the background in light mode, and slightly darker than the background in dark mode. This creates a stable sense of depth.

Pick “on-colors” intentionally

Primary buttons often need a dedicated “on-primary” text color (usually white or near-black). Don’t assume white always works—bright yellows and light greens can make white text unreadable. Use the contrast report to confirm, then commit to a consistent rule: the same on-color should be used across primary surfaces, badges, and highlighted UI states.

Similarly, consider a muted text color for secondary labels. Muted text should look softer but still remain readable on both background and surface.

Test states: hover, focus, disabled, and links

Even if your base colors look good, state colors can break the experience. Ensure links are distinguishable from body text, focus rings are visible on all surfaces, and disabled controls remain readable without being mistaken for active elements. A simple way to test is to look at the preview and ask: “Can I tell what is clickable? Can I tell what is active?”

Use borders and subtle shadows sparingly. If your palette already has strong contrast, heavy shadows can make the UI feel harsh. If your palette is soft, borders might need a little more contrast to prevent everything from blending together.

FAQ