Create a Color Palette From a Photo
Choose a photo, identify its main colors, and create a printable color palette using crayons, markers, or colored paper while learning about color mixing.
Step-by-step guide to create a color palette from a photo
Step 1
Pick one photo you love and place it where you can see it clearly.
Step 2
Look at the photo and choose five main colors you notice the most.
Step 3
Decide if you will use crayons or markers or if you will make the colors with colored paper.
Step 4
Use your pencil and ruler to draw five equal squares in a row on your plain white paper.
Step 5
On scrap paper make small swatches to practice mixing two colors together by layering or overlapping to see new shades.
Step 6
Fill each square on your paper with the color that best matches one of the five main colors from the photo.
Step 7
If a square needs a better match make a new mixed swatch on scrap paper and then layer or add that mix into the square until it looks right.
Step 8
Under each square write the color name and a short note about where that color appears in the photo.
Step 9
Cut a tiny square or thumbnail from your photo so you can show where the colors came from.
Step 10
Glue the tiny photo thumbnail onto the corner of your palette so everyone can see the original.
Step 11
Share your finished color palette on DIY.org
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use instead if we don't have a ruler, markers, or glue?
If you don't have a ruler, marker set, or glue for Steps 3, 5 and 10, use the straight edge of a book to draw five equal squares, swap markers for colored pencils, crayons, or torn colored magazine paper to fill the squares, and use tape or a glue stick to attach the photo thumbnail.
My colors don't match the photo or they smudge when I layer—what should I do?
Follow Step 5 exactly by making and testing new swatches on scrap paper, let layered colors dry before adding more, and if a square looks uneven erase and redraw it with your pencil and ruler (Step 3) before refilling.
How can I change this activity for younger children or make it harder for older kids?
For younger kids simplify Steps 1–4 by choosing three colors and having an adult pre‑draw the squares and help glue the thumbnail, while older kids can make Step 6 harder by mixing precise paint shades, recording color formulas (RGB or paint mixes), and writing more detailed notes under each square (Step 8).
How can we make the finished palette more special or use it for another project?
Turn your finished palette and glued thumbnail (Steps 9–10) into a laminated bookmark or mini collage, use the palette as a color guide to repaint the scene, add a personal note under each color (Step 8), and then share the result on DIY.org as instructed.
Watch videos on how to create a color palette from a photo
How to Create Color Palettes from Images | Adobe Illustrator Tutorial
4 Videos
How to Create Color Palettes from Images | Adobe Illustrator Tutorial
How To Create Color Palette From A Photo | Adobe Illustrator | Save To Swatches
How to Create a Color Palette from a Photo Using Adobe Color & CC Libraries
4 Easy Ways to Get a Color Palette From a Photo | Adobe Illustrator Tutorial
Facts about color theory and mixing
🌈 A typical human eye can distinguish roughly one million different colors (hues and shades).
📸 Digital photos store color as RGB numbers you can sample to build an accurate palette.
🎨 Many artists use a 12-color wheel to predict how primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries mix.
🧪 Printers use cyan, magenta, yellow (and black) — a subtractive mix — instead of red, green, blue.
🖍️ The name "Crayola" was coined in 1903 when Binney & Smith launched their first boxes of crayons.
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