Canva is a lot of things, but oftentimes you find it being the ultimate tool of providing things you didn’t know you needed, and then once you try those things, it’s hard to imagine how you ever got by without them.
From being able to remove photo backgrounds with a single click, to text animation, and today’s topic, being able to easily match and pull colors out of photos.
What is the Canva Color Picker?
The Canva color picker – more formally known as the “color palette generator” – is an easy tool to help you figure out which colors/color codes make up a particular image and then match those colors to other Canva elements—and this means any image; photo, logo, etc.
Basically, if it’s an image file that can be uploaded, it’s an image that can be run through the color picker.
Until Canva releases an eyedropper color tool (where you can simply pluck a sample of color from a particular element or background), the color picker is a nice resource when trying to find that perfect shade (or color tint).
Why use the tool?
I find myself using this tool to either figure out which colors are making up my favorite photos in order to use those colors in designs that contain said photos, or, when I have a design that was created outside of Canva that I want to either recreate or match the color scheme inside of Canva.
I’ll provide both examples below, but ultimately, the tool removes any guesswork. Meaning, sure you can always guess and come close on colors, but why not get as close as possible if it only requires a few minutes of your time?
How do you use the color matcher?
If you can click three buttons and have ever opened a file, uploaded a file, etc., you can use the Canva color picker.
First, click “upload an image” and grab the photo you want to pick colors from.
Then, once you upload, you’ll quickly see four colors listed across the bottom of the generator. Voila!
If you need to know the exact color code, you’ll see each listed below the different colors. You can also click the colored square to automatically add the color to your clipboard for pasting.
Examples
As mentioned, the example of how to use the Canva color picker, and what it can help you accomplish.
Let’s say you have this picture of a dog and want to create a design around her specific brown, the color generator will help me get fairly close in choosing the right type of brown.
So, I’d upload the photo, and would see this after a few seconds:
I’d then find the brown, which is listed as the fourth color in the provided row, called “irish coffee,” and would copy the code. Then, you can log into Canva and create a new design, or just scroll down on the page and click the “try Canva now, it’s free” button, which will take you to your dashboard as well.
Taking it a step further, I removed the background of the photo of Madden, changed the color of the background and then added a gradient in Canva to give the design some depth of surfaces!
Additionally, let’s say I had a logo or this design that was created outside of Canva but needed a quick way to know the colors used so that I could create something similar.
Again, just upload to the color picker, choose the relevant colors, and off you go!
Now armed with new color knowledge, if I wanted to create a landing page with the same color scheme, I can easily match up the look and style.
All of this, and it’s really just the tip of the iceberg, as you’ll find yourself using the tool more than you thought you’d ever need to.
Good luck with the Canva color picker AKA generator, and please let me know if you encounter any challenges.
