ettes. The selection ranges from command-line tools that derive colours from wallpapers and photographs to graphical applications for building harmonious palettes by hand. Some projects focus on analysing or converting colours, while others take generated palettes a step further by applying them across terminals, applications or an entire Linux desktop.
These tools are useful for far more than cosmetic customisation. Designers can use them to explore complementary colours and reusable palettes, while desktop users can automatically adapt their environment to a favourite wallpaper. There are also lightweight utilities aimed at scripting and automation, making it easy to integrate colour generation into a wider theming workflow.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. Only free and open source software is eligible for inclusion.
Let’s explore the color scheme generators at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Color Scheme Generators | |
|---|---|
| pastel | Work with colours from the command line |
| wpgtk | Manage wallpapers, themes and application templates |
| Matugen | Create Material You themes from images |
| wallust | Build terminal palettes from wallpaper colours |
| lule | Fast ANSI theme creator written in Rust |
| Rickrack | Design and manage colour palettes |
| Pywal16 | Generate and apply colour schemes from wallpapers |
| KDE Material You Colors | Automatically theme KDE Plasma from your wallpaper |
| Hellwal | Fast, extensible wallpaper-based theming |
| walrs | Build themes from an image’s dominant colours |
| Aether | Customise and coordinate desktop themes visually |
| cwal | Create dynamic themes from image colours |
| K’uychi | Generate harmonious colour palettes from images |
| Tinct | Extract reusable palettes from images |
| clrsync | Synchronise themes across applications |
| rong | Extract Material You colours from images |
| Colorway | Discover complementary colour pairings |
| Colorice | Wallpaper-driven colour scheme generator |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
 Explore our carefully curated directory of recommended free and open source software, covering every major software category.The directory forms part of our extensive collection of articles for Linux enthusiasts. It includes hundreds of detailed reviews, together with free and open source alternatives to proprietary software from companies such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. LinuxLinks also covers interesting projects worth exploring, Linux-compatible hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful free and open source Linux application that we haven’t covered? Tell us about it using our submission form. |
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Hi Steve,
I am thinking that the title should be:
16 Best Free and Open SOURCE Color Scheme Generators
?
Hi jk3wl
Yes you’re right of course. My mistake. I’ve corrected the title of the article.
No worries.
To err is human.
To claim perfection is delusional.
I have made more than my fair share of mistakes.
One of my teachers had a big sign at the front of the class which read “In this room perfection is not good enough”.