The simple color picker is a useful Google Chrome extension that allows users to easily pick colors from webpages. It adds an icon to Chrome’s toolbar that activates a color picker tool. With this extension installed, you can click on any pixel on a webpage and it will show you the hex code for that color. The simple color picker makes grabbing colors for design projects quick and simple. Let’s take a closer look at how it works and why it’s handy for designers and developers.
How the Simple Color Picker Works
The simple color picker adds an icon that looks like an eye dropper to Chrome’s toolbar. When you click on this icon, your cursor will change to become a color picker. As you move your cursor around the webpage, the extension will display the hex code of whatever pixel your mouse is hovering over in real time.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Eye dropper icon | Activates the color picker tool |
| Cursor changes | Allows you to select colors from the page |
| Real-time color code | Displays the hex code of the pixel under the cursor |
When you find a color you want to grab, simply click on that pixel. This will copy the hex code to your clipboard automatically. You can then paste that hex code into any program that uses colors, like Photoshop, Illustrator, CSS, etc. The simple color picker streamlines the process of sampling colors from webpages.
Benefits of the Simple Color Picker
There are several advantages to using the simple color picker extension:
- Saves time – No longer have to manually sample colors using other tools
- Convenient – Easy access from Chrome’s toolbar anytime you’re browsing
- Accurate – Grabs the exact hex code of any pixel on a webpage
- User-friendly – Simple click and copy process requires minimal effort
- Versatile – Works with any program that utilizes hex color codes
- Free – Available at no cost as a Chrome extension
For designers, developers, and anyone who works with colors for the web, the simple color picker is an invaluable tool. It takes away the frustration of trying to precisely sample colors by hand using other methods. The ability to instantly extract a hex code by simply clicking makes color selection almost effortless.
Use Cases
Here are some examples of ways the simple color picker can be useful:
Web Design
Web designers can quickly grab colors from existing websites to reuse in their own projects. This helps with creating color palettes, ensuring design cohesion, and matching colors from client brand guidelines accurately.
Graphic Design
Graphic designers can sample colors from photographs and webpages to use in logos, icons, illustrations, and any other visual content they create.
Developers
Developers can use the color picker when styling websites to match colors from provided design specs. It’s also helpful when tweaking CSS gradient colors.
Presentations
The simple color picker makes pulling colors for presentations easy. Just find inspiration colors on webpages and copy the hex codes to use in PowerPoint or Keynote.
Digital Art
Digital artists can accurately sample colors from reference images to use in their artwork in programs like Photoshop or Procreate.
Color Research
Analyzing colors on webpages is simplified for designers researching trends, creating color palettes, or curating inspiration.
How to Install
Installing the simple color picker extension takes just a few quick steps:
- Open the Chrome Web Store and search for “simple color picker”
- Click “Add to Chrome” on the extension’s listing
- Confirm the addon installation in the pop-up
- The color picker icon will now be available in Chrome’s toolbar
That’s all there is to it! You can now start using the simple color picker anytime you have Chrome open. It integrates seamlessly into your browsing experience and requires no setup other than installing from the web store.
Tips for Using the Simple Color Picker
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of the simple color picker extension:
- Click and drag to sample colors from wider areas
- Zoom into photos for more precision when selecting colors
- Pay attention to light and shadow – colors may vary depending on lighting
- Sample from multiple areas to get an average color
- Use the Eyedropper tool in Photoshop for verification after copying a hex code
- Disable the extension when not in use to prevent accidentally triggering it
- Try both light and dark website themes to reveal different colors
- Favorite the extension for quick access to the color picker icon
Limitations
While very useful, the simple color picker does have some limitations to be aware of:
- Only works for sampling colors, not selecting interface colors
- Limited to simple hex codes, no fancy color formats
- Requires manual copying and pasting of each color code
- Webpage compression can skew colors slightly
- Doesn’t allow capturing entire palettes or color schemes
- Only available as a Chrome extension, not other browsers
The simple color picker is best suited for quick sampling of individual colors. It does not include robust color scheme creation features or integrations with design programs. While handy, it has a narrow focus on simply extracting hex codes from webpage pixels.
Alternatives
There are other color picker tools that offer capabilities beyond what the simple Chrome extension provides:
Adobe Color
Adobe’s color wheel tool helps build color palettes and explore color harmonies. It also includes image uploading for sampling.
Coolors
Coolors lets you generate color schemes, browse palettes, and save your collections to share or import into projects.
Pixlr
Pixlr is a free online photo editor that includes an advanced color picker with color scheme creation and other robust features.
Photopea
Photopea is an extensive free online image editor with professional-grade color sampling tools.
While the simple color picker delivers on quick and easy sampling, other tools provide expanded functionality for those needing more advanced color features.
Conclusion
The simple color picker Chrome extension takes the headache out of grabbing colors from webpages. With its intuitive picker tool, it streamlines the color selection process for designers, developers, and anyone else who regularly works with colors. While it excels at fast sampling, the extension does have limited scope. For more advanced color scheme creation and editing capabilities, dedicated programs like Adobe Color or Pixlr would be needed. But for quick and easy everyday color picking, the simple color picker is an invaluable free addition to any creative’s web browsing toolkit.