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How do I create a color palette from an image in Illustrator?

Last updated on February 16, 2023 @ 12:51 pm

An image can be used to create a color palette in Illustrator by selecting the image and then clicking on the “Create Color Palette” icon in the toolbar. Basically, you can use the “Eyedropper tool” to do the task.

Use Adobe Illustrator eyedroper tool to get palette from an image

The “Create Color Palette” dialog box will open. Select the shape or layer to which the color palette will be attached and then click on the “Choose Colors” button. The “Choose Colors” dialog box will open and the colors in the image will be listed.

Select the shape or layer to contain the palette from the image you put in Illustrator

PRO TIP: When using the “Create Color Palette from Image” tool in Illustrator, be sure to use high-quality images. This tool can create color palettes from low-quality images, but the results may not be accurate.

Select the colors that you want to use and then click on the “OK” button. The colors in the image will be used to create the color palette.

Alternatively, there’s also an easier way to extract a more precise color palette from your image. Here’s how:

First, have your original image copied and place the original aside for reference purposes. Next, double-click the copied image layer to enter the image editor mode. Then, at the toolbar, click the “Embed” button to change the image from the linked file to an Illustrator vector element.

In the Illustrator image editor, click Embed to change the image from linked file to vector element

Once the image is embedded, go to the “Object” menu and click “Create Object Mosaic.”

Select your embedded image then go to Illustrator object menu and click create object mosaic

In the “Create Object mosaic” dialog box, adjust the width and height settings to your preferences or “Use Ratio” to create a proportionate palette. Click “Ok” to apply the changes.

Adjust your Illustrator object mosaic width and height settings, use ration then click Ok

By now, your vector image should turn into color palette tiles. Next, go to the “Swatches” panel bottom menu and click the “Create new color group” option. In the dialog box, name your color palette and click “Ok” to save the changes.

You should now have palette made out from image then in the swatch menu, click create new color group

You should now have a new color group made from the palette extracted from your image. You can then use it for any vector art you will have in the future.

The palette from the image are now saved as a new color group at Illustrator

Kathy McFarland

Kathy McFarland

Devops woman in trade, tech explorer and problem navigator.