Is Spectrum free to use?

Yes, Spectrum is completely free. There are no paid plans, no trial periods, and no features locked behind a paywall. All 7 tools are free for everyone, forever.

Do I need to create an account?

No account is needed. Open the site and start using any tool immediately. Your color history is saved to your browser locally, not to a server.

Are my images uploaded to a server?

No. Images are processed entirely in your browser using the HTML Canvas API. Your files never leave your device and are never sent to any server.

How do I extract colors from an image?

Upload an image (drag & drop, URL, or paste), then click anywhere on it to pick the color at that pixel. The color appears instantly in HEX, RGB, HSL, and more formats.

What is WCAG contrast ratio and why does it matter?

WCAG contrast ratio measures how different two colors look against each other. A ratio of at least 4.5:1 is required for normal text (AA level) to be readable by people with low vision. Spectrum's contrast checker tests your color pairs against all WCAG 2.1 levels.

What is color blindness and how common is it?

Color blindness (color vision deficiency) is a reduced ability to distinguish certain colors. About 8% of men and 0.5% of women are color blind in some way. The most common types are red-green (protanopia, deuteranopia) and blue-yellow (tritanopia). Spectrum simulates 7 types of color vision.

What are complementary colors?

Complementary colors sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel — red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple. Placed side by side, they create the highest possible contrast and make each color appear more vivid.

What color formats does Spectrum support?

Spectrum supports HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSLA, HSV, HWB, CMYK, LAB, LCH, XYZ, YUV, YCbCr, HSI, and several technical formats like integer, binary, and Base64. You can copy any format with a single click.

Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated May 29, 2026

Spectrum is built to need as little of your data as possible. Every tool runs entirely in your browser — your images and colors never touch a server.

The short version

No accounts. No tracking. No uploads. The images you open and the colors you pick are processed locally on your device and are never transmitted to us or anyone else.

What we don't collect

No names, emails, or accounts — Spectrum has no sign-up.
No image uploads — images are read with the browser's Canvas API and stay on your device.
No advertising identifiers, fingerprinting, or behavioral profiles.

What's stored on your device

To make the picker useful, your recent color historyis saved in your browser's localStorage (under the key spectrum-color-history). This data lives only in your browser, is never sent anywhere, and you can clear it at any time from within the tool or by clearing your browser storage.

Cookies & analytics

Spectrum sets no cookies and runs no third-party analytics or tracking scripts. Fonts are self-hosted, so loading a page does not call out to a font CDN.

Hosting & external links

Like any website, our hosting provider may process standard, non-identifying request logs (such as IP address and user-agent) for security and reliability. Spectrum also links to external sites — for example GitHub and PayPal — which have their own privacy policies that govern your use of them.

Children's privacy

Spectrum is a general-audience tool and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of Spectrum after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email dominik.koenitzer@gmail.com.