Color Harmony Generator

The color harmony generator derives every classic harmony from one base color and shows them together, so you can compare relationships before choosing a direction.

What is Color Harmony Generator?

The color harmony generator takes one base color and lays out every classic harmony derived from it, side by side. Rather than making you choose between complementary and triadic and re-enter the color each time, it shows complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic and split-complementary at once, each as a row of swatches that begins with your base. It is the fastest way to see which relationship suits a project, because comparison is the whole point.

• Each harmony is a fixed set of hue rotations applied to the base.
• Complementary is a single rotation of 180 degrees.
• Analogous takes the neighbours at minus and plus 30.
• Triadic spreads three hues evenly at 120 and 240.
• Tetradic uses a rectangle at 90, 180 and 270, and split-complementary replaces the single opposite with two hues at 150 and 210.
• Because all of them start from the same value, switching between them never changes the lightness or saturation you began with.
• When you generate color harmonies this way, the only variable is hue.

The rotations are applied in OKLCH, so lightness and chroma are held constant and only hue moves. That is what makes the rows comparable: analogous colors sit quietly together, complementary colors oppose each other at full strength, and the complementary triadic tetradic palette rows all keep the same apparent lightness rather than drifting darker or washed out. Working in a perceptually uniform space also avoids a common complaint about harmonies built in older models, where derived colors looked accidentally uneven.

• Reading the rows is a quick education in how much tension each relationship creates.
• If the brief is calm and cohesive, the analogous row will look right and the complementary row will feel agitated beside it.
• If you want a single strong accent against a dominant color, the complementary row gives the most separation.
• Triadic and tetradic sit in between, useful when a design needs several co-equal colors that nevertheless belong together.
• Seeing all five at once turns those trade-offs into something concrete.

Use it as a color harmony calculator while you are still deciding on a direction, then move to the dedicated generator for the harmony you chose once you have committed to it. Because every row shares the same base, you can also compare a light and a dark version of a project by changing the base once and re-reading all five rows. If you need to know whether any pair in a chosen harmony is legible for text, run the two colors through a contrast checker before you build.

Keep in mind that a harmony is a relationship, not a finished palette. Two analogous colors are not automatically legible together, and a triadic set is not automatically balanced in area; the proportions you assign matter as much as the hues. Use the rows here to choose a direction, then decide how much of each color a screen will actually show, and verify any text pairing separately. A harmony generator gives you colors that belong together; making them work in a layout is a separate step that depends on size, spacing and contrast rather than hue alone.

How to use Color Harmony Generator

1. Set the base colour with the picker.
2. Read the five harmony cards — complementary, analogous, triadic, tetradic and split complementary.
3. Each card shows the base beside the hues that relationship derives from it.
4. Copy the values from the arrangement that fits the scheme.

When to use Color Harmony Generator vs related tools

Use this generator to compare harmonies on one base color before committing. Use the separate complementary, triadic or analogous generators when you have already chosen a relationship and want to focus on it. For the neighbouring steps, see the color wheel theory guide and the bezold effect visualizer.

Privacy & Security

This tool runs entirely in your browser — no data ever leaves your device. There is no server round-trip, no upload, no logging, and no account required. Your input is processed locally using client-side JavaScript and is never stored, transmitted, or accessible to anyone else. When you close the tab, everything disappears.

Frequently asked questions about Color Harmony Generator