Palette Temperature Balance Checker
Enter your whole working palette and see its warm-versus-cool split before you start painting, so you know whether your colour scheme leans warm, cool or balanced.
How to Use This Tool
Set each colour in your palette using the colour pickers or by typing HEX codes, using Add/Remove Colour to work with anywhere from two to eight colours, then click "Check Balance".
How the Classification Works
Each colour is converted to Hue, Saturation and Lightness, using the same rule as our Warm & Cool Colour Explorer: hues within 90 degrees of red are classified as warm, and hues within 90 degrees of cyan are classified as cool. The bar shows what percentage of your palette falls into each group.
Why Check Your Palette's Temperature Balance?
Knowing whether your working palette leans warm, cool or sits fairly balanced before you start painting can help you plan mood, lighting and focal points more deliberately, rather than discovering an unintended colour bias partway through a piece.
Using This With Your Other Palettes
Try feeding this tool the output of our Artist Colour Palette Generator, Monochromatic Colour Palette Generator, or any harmony tool to check the temperature balance of a palette you have already built.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Palette Temperature Balance Checker do?
It looks at every colour in your palette, classifies each one as warm or cool, and shows the overall percentage split as a visual bar plus a written summary.
How does it decide warm or cool for each colour?
It uses the same rule as our Warm & Cool Colour Explorer: colours are converted to HSL and hues within 90 degrees of red are classified as warm, while hues within 90 degrees of cyan are classified as cool.
How many colours can I check at once?
Between two and eight colours. Use the Add Colour and Remove Colour buttons to adjust how many swatches you are working with.
What counts as a "balanced" palette?
This tool treats a split roughly between 35% and 65% warm as fairly balanced. A stronger lean in either direction is described as leaning warm or leaning cool.
Is warm/cool classification an exact science?
No. Colour temperature in this artistic sense is a traditional, widely taught design convention rather than a strict scientific measurement, and very low-saturation, near-grey colours may not have a strong warm or cool feel in practice.
Why check my palette before painting?
Knowing your palette's warm/cool balance ahead of time can help you plan mood, lighting and focal points more deliberately, rather than discovering an unintended bias partway through a piece.
Can I save the results?
The tool does not save results automatically, but you can note down the warm/cool split and the HEX codes of your palette for your own reference.
Is this tool free to use?
Yes, this tool is completely free to use with no sign-up required.
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