ColorPicker Free and Open Source Desktop App CookApps CookApps Marketplace

Overview

ColorPicker is a sleek, open-source cross-platform color management toolkit designed for UI designers, illustrators, and front-end developers. Built with Electron, ColorPicker delivers a precision desktop pixel eyedropper, instant HEX/RGB/HSL/CMYK formatting, dynamic shade/tint generators, persistent Colorsbook palettes, and an always-on-top Pin mode.

How It Works

ColorPicker operates through structured, deterministic execution stages:

Precision Screen Pixel Eyedropper: Magnifies any desktop region to sample exact sRGB pixel values across multiple monitors cleanly.

Real-Time Format Conversions: Outputs synchronous values in HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSV, and CMYK ready for CSS, SwiftUI, and design files.

Shading, Tints & Colorsbook Libraries: Generates tonal variations, harmonious color schemes, and organized project swatches stored locally.

Floating Pin & Focus Mode: Locks compact color widgets always-on-top over Figma, Blender, or code editors during fast UI iteration.

ColorPicker color management dashboard and palette controls

ColorPicker magnified screen pixel eyedropper interface

Key Technical Features & Capabilities

Pixel-Accurate Desktop Eyedropper: Magnifies any screen region to sample exact pixels across monitors with single-click clipboard copy.

Instant Multi-Format Translation: Evaluates and updates HEX, RGB, RGBA, HSL, HSV, and CMYK values simultaneously as you adjust sliders.

Tint, Shade & Palette Colorsbooks: Creates cohesive tonal ladders automatically and saves custom palettes neatly into searchable Collections.

Focus & Always-On-Top Pin Mode: Locks floating color cards discreetly over Figma, Sketch, or VS Code while coding CSS/Tailwind themes.

Architecture & Technology Stack

Primary Languages: JavaScript, HTML5 / CSS3

Frameworks & UI: Electron, Node.js, Custom IPC Window Controllers

Build & Packaging: electron-builder (macOS DMG, Windows Setup/Portable, Linux AppImage/Snap)

Supported Platforms: macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel DMGs), Windows (x64 Installer & Portable), Linux

System Requirements

Specification	Minimum Requirement	Recommended Specification
Operating System	macOS (ARM64 & Intel DMGs), Windows 10/11 (x64 EXE), Linux	Latest stable release build
Processor Architecture	4-Core x86_64 or Apple Silicon M1	8-Core Apple Silicon / Core i7+
Memory (RAM)	4 GB Unified Memory	16 GB+ High-Speed RAM
Disk Space	1 GB free SSD storage	5 GB+ free SSD storage

Installation & Setup Guide

macOS & Windows Installation

macOS: Download Colorpicker-2.3.0-arm64.dmg (Apple Silicon) or Colorpicker-2.3.0.dmg (Intel), or run brew install --cask colorpicker.

Windows: Download Colorpicker.Setup.2.3.0.exe or Colorpicker.Portable.2.3.0.zip.

Building from Source

bash

git clone https://github.com/toinane/colorpicker.git
cd colorpicker
npm install
npm start

How to Use & Workflow

Sample On-Screen Color: Click the Eyedropper tool or global shortcut to inspect and capture pixels anywhere on your screen.

Generate Harmony Shades: Switch to Shading to derive lighter tints and darker shadows for design tokens.

Save to Colorsbook: Organize brand swatches inside persistent Colorsbook lists for rapid multi-project lookup.

Troubleshooting & Common Issues

Issue: macOS Eyedropper samples only the desktop wallpaper instead of active apps.

*Cause*: macOS Screen Recording privacy locks prevent reading pixels from third-party windows without explicit authorization.

*Resolution*: Enable Colorpicker under System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen Recording and relaunch.

ColorPicker

Overview

How It Works

Key Technical Features & Capabilities

Architecture & Technology Stack

System Requirements

Installation & Setup Guide

macOS & Windows Installation

Building from Source

How to Use & Workflow

Troubleshooting & Common Issues

How to Use & Getting Started

Ready to run ColorPicker?

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