Why are the three colors equally vivid?

The rule copies the base's lightness and chroma to all three legs, so the hue triangle is pure. Real interfaces usually vary lightness across the legs, and the tints and shades tools build those ramps.

Which of the three should dominate?

Geometry does not decide that, usage does. A common split gives one leg the surface, one the text and one the accents, with the contrast checker confirming which legs can carry text.

Is this just any three colors?

No. The 120 degree separation is what makes it triadic: the hues are maximally spaced for a three-color set. Three arbitrary colors share none of that balance.

Can I start from a colour I already have?

That is the intended flow. Set your existing brand or image colour as the base and the other two legs derive from it, keeping the scheme anchored to the colour you must keep.

Can I change the count to two or four?

No. The triadic color scheme is three colours and the count follows from the rule, with no count control. Two legs is the complementary generator's job and four is the tetradic generator's.

Triadic Palette Generator

Color

#3B82F6

#e24956

#3ba01b

You Might Also Need

Tetradic Palette Generator

Four colors in a rectangular harmony

Color Triadic Finder

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Complementary Palette Generator

Base color and its complement

Contrast Checker

Check contrast ratio between two colors

The triadic palette generator builds a three-color scheme from any base: the base plus the two hues 120° and 240° away. It returns three evenly spaced colors and no more.

What is Triadic Palette Generator?

A triadic palette generator performs the wheel's equilateral triangle: take the base, add 120 degrees, and add 240. The three resulting hues are evenly spaced, so no member of the triadic color scheme sits next to another and none dominates by geometry. The tool returns three evenly spaced colors, the base first and the two derived hues after it, with the base's lightness and chroma carried through to all three. That even spacing is the source of the set's balance, and it is the reason a triad reads as a committee of equals rather than as a pair with a spare.

The rotation runs in OKLCH, and hue is the only coordinate that changes. Lightness and chroma are read from the base, so all three swatches carry the same weight and differ only by their 120 degree color harmony positions around the wheel. Because OKLCH is perceptually even, those positions land where the eye expects the triangle to be rather than where a naive RGB rotation would scatter them. The result is the flat, poster-like set triads are known for: three evenly spaced colors held at a single tonal level.

The spacing is fixed at 120 degrees. There is no control over the triangle's size or rotation beyond choosing the base.
The count is fixed at three. There is no count control and no extra leg.
No contrast check, so equal-weight hues must be verified elsewhere before they carry text.
No ordering or sorting: the strip stays in derivation order, base then plus 120 then plus 240.
No lightness or chroma controls. The base is the only input, so ramps are built afterwards with the tints and shades tools.

Use the triad where three equal voices are wanted and none should stand above the others: illustration, poster work, or a small categorical chart. In an interface, assign roles rather than areas. Let one leg take most of the surface, let a second carry the hierarchy, and save the third for the rare moment that must be found quickly, because without a role the three evenly spaced hues compete for the same job. If a palette needs four voices instead of three, the tetradic generator extends the same geometry to a rectangle; if the balance feels too broad, the split-complementary generator settles for a quieter pair.

The triangle is also the most durable of the small schemes. Because no leg is anyone's neighbour, darkening one for a night mode or desaturating another for print keeps the relationship recognisable under changes that would wreck a pair or a random set, which is why triads hold up in a design system rather than only in a single composition.

The scheme is also a natural teaching device, because the arithmetic is exact: set a primary red and the triangle lands on the yellow and blue of the school wheel, then move the base and watch all three legs rotate in lockstep. In production the same precision is what makes a triad reproducible, because the two derived hues are a fixed 120 degrees from the base, so a token set built on it can be regenerated from one value without drift. Test the triangle on real content rather than the swatch row, since three equal-weight hues read very differently once one of them is given a large surface.

How to use Triadic Palette Generator

Set the base color with the picker or by typing a hex value.
Read the three swatches: base, +120°, +240°.
Copy the hex value of any swatch.

When to use Triadic Palette Generator vs related tools

Use the triadic generator when three equal, well-separated hues are the goal and no colour should dominate by geometry. The tetradic generator extends the same idea to four, the analogous generator gives a quieter neighbouring run, and the split-complementary generator suits a base plus two supporting hues. Verify any text pairing with the contrast checker, and reach for the palette sorters when the strip needs an order.

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.