Color Lama · pixels read on your device only

What Color Is That?

Point the camera, tap a photo, or grab any pixel on screen — get the name, HEX, RGB and HSL, instantly.

Fig. 1 — light in · name out0 pixels uploaded
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Tap any code to copy it. In camera mode the crosshair's center gap marks the exact sample point (a 9×9-pixel average — steadier than a single pixel). Tap the video to read elsewhere in the frame.

Picked this session
The lighting caveat, up front: a camera doesn't see color — it sees light. Your phone's auto white balance means the same paint chip can read differently under a warm bulb, at noon, and in shade. Photos and screenshots read exactly; live surfaces read as lit. For paint-matching decisions, sample in daylight, square-on, no shadow — or better, tap a photo taken that way.

Three ways to grab a color

  1. Camera, for the physical world. Start it, put the circle on the thing — wall, fabric, mystery cable, the neighbor's front door — and the name updates live. "Hold this color" freezes the reading and saves it to your session strip.
  2. Photo, for exactness. Drop in a picture or paste a screenshot, then tap any spot. This reads the actual pixels, so it's the mode for design work, brand colors, and "what exact blue is that website using".
  3. Screen, for everything else. On desktop Chrome and Edge, the eyedropper button picks from anywhere on your screen — other windows included. It's the fastest of the three when it's available.

What's in the lab

Names, not just numbers

"#E2725B" means nothing at the paint store; "terracotta" starts a conversation. Matching runs in Lab color space — the perceptual one — so the closest name is closest to your eye, not to a spreadsheet.

Honest about "closest"

When your shade isn't an exact named color, the readout says "closest name" and keeps the exact HEX. Tools that only ever answer with a name are quietly rounding your color away.

A session that adds up

Every held or tapped color lands in the strip below the readout. Copy the lot as CSS variables or download a labeled palette PNG — you leave with an artifact, not a memory.

Share the exact shade

The color rides in the URL (#2563eb and so on). Whoever opens your link gets this page with your exact color already loaded — no screenshots of screenshots.

Reads like a camera, not a lab meter

The reticle averages a 9×9 patch, which stops the readout from flickering between neighboring pixels of camera noise. Tap anywhere in the frame to read off-center.

No server, no upload, no maybe

Camera frames land in a canvas in your browser's memory and go no further. This system contains no machine that could receive an image — switch off the connection and watch it keep working.

FAQ

Do my camera frames or photos get uploaded?

No — structurally no. Pixels are read in your browser; this static site has no server to receive them. It works with the connection off.

How accurate is camera detection?

As accurate as your lighting — auto white balance means the same surface reads warmer or cooler with the light. Photos read exactly. For decisions: daylight, square-on, no shadow.

How many names does it know?

255: the CSS/X11 set plus the names people actually say — terracotta, sage, mustard, periwinkle. Non-exact shades are labeled "closest name" with the true HEX preserved.

Can it match paint brands?

It hands you the measured HEX; every major paint brand's site can match that to their catalog. We don't ship trademarked catalogs — the HEX is the universal bridge.

What's the eyedropper button?

Chromium desktop's EyeDropper API — pick from anywhere on screen, other apps included. It appears automatically where supported; phones don't have it yet.

Really free?

Your device does the computing, so yes — no account, no quota, no watermark on the palette export.

From the color notes

How-to

How to identify a color from a photo

Tap the right pixel, dodge JPEG smudge, and get a name you can say out loud.

 Honesty

Why the same color looks different on every screen

White balance, ambient light, and the limits every color tool shares.

 Explainer

HEX, RGB, HSL — which one should you use?

Same color, three notations, and the job each one is actually good at.

 Accessibility

Designing for color blindness

One in twelve men sees your palette differently. Here's what changes and what doesn't.

More color instruments

On this site

Contrast checker

Pick two colors, get the WCAG ratio and a pass/fail verdict — plus the nearest shade that passes.

 On this site

Palette from photo

Extracts the six dominant colors from any picture — named, coded, exportable.

 On this site

Color blindness simulator

See your image or palette the way protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia see it.

 Guide

The color notes

Short reads on color you can actually use.