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PerfectPalette

Frequently asked questions

Everything about PerfectPalette — color theory, accessibility, exports, AI integration, and more.

Getting started

What is PerfectPalette?
PerfectPalette is a color palette engineering platform for designers and developers. It provides a guided 11-stage palette editor with harmony analysis, WCAG accessibility checking, OKLCH color scales, design.md authoring, 27+ export formats, and AI integration via MCP tools. Unlike generic palette generators, PerfectPalette is built for production design systems — every palette is analyzed, scored, and ready to export.
Do I need an account to use PerfectPalette?
No account is required to use the palette editor, generate color palettes, access the full color library, or use any of the free tools. Creating a free account lets you save and share palettes. Plus and Pro plans unlock advanced features like color systems, OKLCH scales, and design.md authoring.
Is PerfectPalette free?
Yes — the core palette editor, 27+ export formats, color library, and all free tools are available at no cost without a login. Optional Plus ($8/month) and Pro ($18/month) plans unlock color systems, OKLCH scales, design.md authoring, AI/MCP integration, and API access. See the pricing page for the full feature breakdown.View pricing →
How is PerfectPalette different from Coolors or Adobe Color?
Coolors and Adobe Color are great for exploring color combinations, but PerfectPalette is built specifically for production design systems. It provides deterministic palette health scoring, WCAG compliance analysis, design token exports, OKLCH scale generation, and design.md authoring — capabilities aimed at teams shipping real products, not just inspiration boards.

Color theory

What is a color palette?
A color palette is a curated set of colors that work together consistently across a design. In a production design system, a palette defines the full range of interface colors including text, backgrounds, borders, and interactive states. PerfectPalette structures palettes around defined roles (like Primary, Neutral, Success, and Destructive) so they integrate directly into component libraries.
What is color harmony?
Color harmony describes the relationships between colors based on their positions on the color wheel. Common modes include complementary (opposite colors), analogous (adjacent colors), triadic (three evenly-spaced colors), and split-complementary. PerfectPalette supports 11 harmony modes including a Smart mode with 12 archetypes to help you build harmonious palettes in one click.Color harmony guide →
What's the difference between hue, value, and chroma?
Hue is the color identity (red, blue, green), value is how light or dark a color is, and chroma is its saturation or colorfulness. Together, these three dimensions fully describe any color. Understanding them is essential for building consistent color scales and achieving accessible contrast ratios.Hue, value & chroma guide →
What is OKLCH and why does it matter?
OKLCH is a modern perceptually uniform color space that separates lightness, chroma, and hue in a way that matches human vision. Unlike HSL, equal steps in OKLCH lightness look equally different to the eye — making it ideal for generating design-token color scales that are visually smooth and predictable. PerfectPalette uses OKLCH to generate consistent neutral and accent scales.Color modes guide →
What are color undertones?
Undertones are subtle secondary hues present within a seemingly neutral color. A white might have a warm yellow undertone, a cool blue cast, or a pink tint — and those undertones become visible when placed next to other colors. Understanding undertones helps you build palettes where neutrals don't clash with accent colors.Undertones guide →

Accessibility

What is WCAG contrast and how do I check it?
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) defines minimum contrast ratios between foreground text and background colors. WCAG 2.x requires at least 4.5:1 for normal text (AA level) and 3:1 for large text. PerfectPalette checks every foreground/background pair in your palette and reports which pairs pass AA, AAA, or fail entirely.Contrast & WCAG guide →
What's the difference between WCAG AA and AAA?
WCAG AA is the legal minimum required for most public websites and products — it requires a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text and 3:1 for large text (18pt+ or bold 14pt+). AAA is the enhanced standard at 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text, used when maximum readability is required, for example in healthcare or government interfaces. Most design systems target AA as a baseline with selective AAA for critical content.
How do I make a color palette accessible for color blindness?
Color blindness affects roughly 8% of men and 0.5% of women globally. To make a palette accessible: never rely on color alone to convey meaning — use icons, labels, or patterns alongside color; ensure sufficient contrast without relying on hue differences; and test using a color blindness simulator. PerfectPalette simulates deuteranopia, protanopia, and tritanopia across your entire palette.Accessibility & CVD guide →
Does PerfectPalette simulate color blindness?
Yes. PerfectPalette includes a color vision deficiency (CVD) simulator that previews your palette as experienced by people with deuteranopia (green-weak), protanopia (red-weak), and tritanopia (blue-yellow weakness). Simulations run directly in the editor so you can compare the original and simulated palette side by side.

Exports & design systems

What export formats does PerfectPalette support?
PerfectPalette exports to 27+ formats across every major platform: CSS custom properties, SCSS/Sass variables, JavaScript/TypeScript, JSON, Figma tokens, Tailwind CSS config, Material Design 3, SwiftUI, Kotlin, Android XML, Style Dictionary, W3C Design Tokens, and more. All formats are available on the Free plan. Pro additionally unlocks PDF compliance reports and design.md spec files.
What is design.md?
design.md is an open specification published by Google for machine-readable design system documentation. A design.md file describes your color system, typography, spacing, and other design decisions in a structured format that AI coding tools — like Gemini, Claude, and Cursor — can read and apply directly during development. PerfectPalette is a dedicated design.md authoring tool that generates fully spec-compliant files from your palette.Learn about design.md →
Can I export to Figma, Tailwind, or Material Design?
Yes to all three. PerfectPalette exports Figma tokens in the W3C Design Tokens format (compatible with the Figma Tokens plugin and Figma Variables import), Tailwind CSS config files with full color scale definitions, and Material Design 3 token files for Android and web. All export formats are available on the Free plan.
What are design tokens?
Design tokens are named key-value pairs that represent design decisions — for example, color-primary-500 mapped to a hex value, or font-size-lg mapped to 1.125rem. By exporting your palette as tokens in CSS custom properties, JSON, or Style Dictionary format, you create a single source of truth that keeps design tools and code in sync. PerfectPalette generates design tokens in multiple standard formats from any palette.

AI & automation

What is the PerfectPalette MCP server?
The PerfectPalette MCP (Model Context Protocol) server connects AI assistants like Claude directly to your palette data. With MCP enabled, Claude can validate palette health, check WCAG compliance, generate export-ready color scales, and author design.md files — all from a conversation. MCP access is available on the Pro plan.AI & MCP features →
Can Claude or ChatGPT generate palettes with PerfectPalette?
Claude can, via the PerfectPalette MCP server — it gives Claude 9 tools to analyze, validate, and export palettes directly from a conversation. ChatGPT does not currently support MCP. You can also use the PerfectPalette API (Pro plan) to integrate palette generation into any workflow or custom AI application.
Is there a PerfectPalette API?
Yes. The PerfectPalette REST API lets you programmatically create, analyze, and export palettes. It supports all core operations: palette creation, health scoring, WCAG checking, export generation, and design.md authoring. API keys are available on the Pro plan.

Account & billing

What's included in Free, Plus, and Pro?
The Free plan includes the full palette editor, 27+ export formats, the complete color library, and all free tools — no account required. Plus ($8/month) adds color systems, OKLCH scales, color role mapping, and PDF exports. Pro ($18/month) adds design.md authoring, MCP access, API keys, and the full design system workflow.See full pricing comparison →
Can I cancel my Plus or Pro subscription anytime?
Yes. You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account settings. Your plan remains active until the end of the current billing period, then downgrades to Free. No cancellation fees and no long-term commitment.

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