The Ultimate Ways to Use a Color Wheel Online | Best for Creative Professionals

Explore our guide that equips you with color wheel online tools. Create harmonious color palettes. Ideal for web design, interior design, and art projects. Moreover, discover how CapCut can add that creative color pop to your videos.

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CapCut
CapCut08/30/2024
0 min(s)

Ever wondered how designers create stunningly harmonious color schemes that make websites, interiors, and fashion look trendy? The secret often lies in the use of a color wheel. This tool isn't just for artists; it's a helpful resource for anyone looking to add more color and energy to their projects.

In this article, we will discuss how to use the color wheel online to enhance various aspects of creative work and personal fashion choices.

Table of content

What is a color wheel

A color wheel is a tool that artists and designers use to see how colors relate to each other. It’s like a big circle divided into different colored slices, each showing a basic color. These colors are arranged in a specific order, usually starting with the three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. It’s a handy guide for anyone looking to pick colors for a project, making sure everything looks appealing, balanced, and professional.

Types of colors

There are different types of colors available on the color wheel. Let's explore these to better understand how colors interact and how to use them effectively in your designs.

  • Primary

Primary colors are like the essential building blocks of all other colors. These include red, blue, and yellow, and you can't create them by mixing other colors. By combining these primary colors in different ways, you can make a wide range of new colors.

  • Secondary

Secondary colors come into play when you mix two primary colors. Think of them as the children of primary colors. Mixing red and yellow makes orange, yellow and blue make green, and blue and red create purple. These colors add more variety and options for artists and designers.

  • Tertiary

Tertiary colors are a bit more complex. They’re made when you mix a primary color with a secondary color next to the color wheel. This gives us colors like red-orange, yellow-green, and blue-purple. These colors are great for adding depth and interest to a piece of art.

Top 3 color wheel generators online

Color wheel online tools are incredibly helpful for visualizing and selecting color schemes that enhance the aesthetics and effectiveness of your designs. Here are three top color wheel generators available online that offer a range of features to suit various creative needs:

1. Canva

Canva is a popular online design platform that makes creating stunning visuals simple and accessible for everyone. Whether you're creating a poster, a social media graphic, or even a business presentation, Canva's online color wheel picker can guide you in selecting a color scheme that enhances your design. Moreover, Canva offers the flexibility to tweak and adjust the suggested colors, allowing for fine-tuning that can match specific branding guidelines or personal tastes.

How to use color wheel online in Canva

Here is how to use the free color wheel online in Canva:

    Step
  1. Select the color combination
  2. Start by accessing Canva's color wheel feature, which is prominently displayed within the design interface. Choose color combinations such as complementary, monochromatic, and more.
  3. Step
  4. Initiate color selection
  5. After this, click on the color wheel to activate the selector. As you hover over various colors, Canva will display the hex code (e.g., #5A4ba2) for the color at the bottom of the wheel, which you can use to ensure precision in your color choices.
  6. Step
  7. Fine-tune your color choice
  8. Once you click on a specific area of the color wheel, you can further adjust the saturation and brightness by moving the inner circle of the color selector horizontally for saturation or vertically for brightness.
  9. Step
  10. Apply the color to your design or export

After selecting and adjusting your desired color, apply it to various elements of your design directly within Canva. Simply select the design element (text, background, shapes, etc.) and then input the hex code you’ve chosen into the color customization tool for that element. You can also export color palettes in PDF form.


Interface of Canva - an easy-to-use free color wheel online

2. Picsart

Picsart is a flexible and dynamic online editing platform designed for both amateur and professional creators who want to enhance their visual content. Among its many features, its color circle online (called color wheel) tool stands out as a particularly useful function. The tool provides options like complementary, analogous, and triadic color schemes, enabling you to explore creative and harmonious color combinations that can enhance the overall impact of your visuals.

How to use the color wheel online in Picsart

Here is how to use the wheel picker online in Picsart:

    Step
  1. Selecting a color scheme
  2. Begin by choosing the type of color combination you want to work with from the color wheel interface in Picsart.
  3. Step
  4. Adjusting base and complementary colors
  5. Once you've selected your color scheme, adjust the base color by clicking and dragging the cursor on the color wheel.
  6. Step
  7. Applying the colors to your project (optional)
  8. After selecting and adjusting your colors, use the color codes provided beside the color wheel (e.g., Base Color #5FAD46 and its complementary #AD5F67) to apply these colors to your design elements in Picsart. You can manually enter these hex codes when selecting color options for various parts of your project, such as backgrounds, text, or other graphic elements.
  9. Step
  10. Export

Click "Export" to download the color palette in PDF form.


Interface of Picsart - a dynamic color picker wheel online

3. Paletton

Paletton is a powerful and intuitive color wheel online tool designed for artists, designers, and anyone interested in creating beautiful color schemes with ease. It features a dynamic color wheel that helps users explore and create stunning color palettes tailored to their projects.

How to use the color wheel online in Paletton

Here is how to use the color wheel picker online in Paletton

    Step
  1. Access the color wheel
  2. Visit the Paletton website to find the color wheel interface.
  3. Step
  4. Select a color scheme
  5. The color wheel will display a range of colors within the selected scheme. Experiment with different color schemes to find the one that best suits your design needs.
  6. Step
  7. Customize and generate a palette

Once you've selected a color scheme, you can further customize it by adjusting the hue, saturation, and brightness of individual colors. Once you're satisfied with your color palette, you can save it for future use or copy the hex codes for use in your design software.


Interface of Paletton - a user-friendly color wheel website

Uses of the color wheel

Here are some uses of the color wheel:

  • Design balance

The color wheel online is a powerful tool for creating a harmonious look for any design project. It helps designers choose colors that complement or contrast well with each other, making sure everything feels balanced and pleasant to the eye. For instance, using colors that are opposite each other on the wheel can make elements stand out in a design.

  • Branding

For businesses, the color wheel can guide the branding process by helping pick colors that convey the right emotions and values. Colors can influence how a brand is perceived, whether it’s energetic and fun or more trustworthy and professional.

  • Art and illustration

Artists often use the color wheel to choose shades and hues that bring their ideas to life. It helps understand which colors complement or contrast, adding depth and emotion to their artwork.

  • Interior design

In interior design, a color wheel can create spaces that feel cohesive and comfortable. By choosing colors that harmonize well, you can make a room feel calm and put together or bold and energetic. It’s not just about aesthetics; the right color choices can influence the mood and functionality of a space.

  • Fashion design

In fashion design, the color wheel plays a crucial role in styling outfits and collections. Given that, designers use it to figure out which colors look good together. It can dictate everything from seasonal color trends to the overall vibe of a collection, ensuring that pieces are both fashionable and cohesive.

  • Web design

The color wheel is an amazing tool for creating websites that are visually attractive and operationally efficient. It significantly influences how colors blend on a webpage, which can profoundly impact the user experience.

Bonus tip: Make your videos pop with CapCut’s color wheel

CapCut desktop video editor offers a wide range of options for color customization and coordination in videos. Whether you're a seasoned editor or a beginner, its color wheel makes it simple to adjust colors, ensuring your videos not only catch the eye but also convey the desired mood and tone. Additionally, CapCut offers advanced video and audio editing tools to meet the needs of professionals.




Editing interface of the CapCut desktop video editor - a perfect tool with the color wheel

Key features

  • Employ the desired color wheel

You can choose from different options for the color wheel, giving you full control over the design palette and creating visually appealing content.

  • Adjustable color strength

Users can easily adjust the intensity of colors, helping them fine-tune the vibrancy and mood of their videos, especially when creating a movie trailer.

  • One-click color matching

CapCut's one-click color-matching feature simplifies the process of ensuring color consistency across different clips when making a long video.

  • Correct colors instantly

Users can quickly correct any color imbalances or mismatches with just a few clicks, saving time and enhancing the overall look of their content.

How to employ the color wheel in CapCut

If you haven't used CapCut before, simply click the "Download" button below and run the installer to get the desktop video editor.

    Step
  1. Import video
  2. Begin by entering the editing interface of CapCut and clicking on the "Import" button to upload your video.
  3. 
    Importing video into the CapCut desktop video editor
  4. Step
  5. Adjust and refine the colors
  6. Go to the "Adjustment" tab located near the top right corner of the interface and select "Color wheel" from the available options. You can manipulate the intensity slider to enhance or mute the colors. The color wheels labeled "Shadow", "Middle tone" and others allow precise tuning of the color tints in darker and mid-tone areas of your video. Click "Apply to all" to enforce these settings throughout the video.
  7. 
    Utilizing the color wheel to refine video in the CapCut desktop video editor
  8. Step
  9. Export or share

After fine-tuning your video in CapCut, click on the "Export" button at the interface's top right. You can choose to save your video in various formats like MP4 and adjust settings like quality, frame rate, codec, and bit rate. You can share your video directly to platforms like YouTube and TikTok.


Exporting the video from the CapCut desktop video editor

Conclusion

To sum up, color wheel online generators can significantly enhance your design projects by providing powerful tools for color selection and harmony. When used effectively, a color wheel helps maintain balance in design by ensuring that colors complement rather than clash with each other.

For video creators looking to enhance visual storytelling, the CapCut desktop video editor offers an advanced color wheel feature. It provides detailed control over color grading, ensuring that each video not only looks professional but also captures the desired mood and style.

FAQs

  1. Can you make your own color wheel online?
  2. Yes, you can make a color wheel online using various tools available on the internet. These tools offer interactive interfaces where you can experiment with different color combinations and schemes. Many platforms like Adobe Color, and Canva provide these features, making it easy for both amateurs and professionals to create custom color wheels. When it comes to using the color wheel to adjust colors in videos, the CapCut desktop video editor is the best choice.
  3. Which is the best online color wheel picker?
  4. Canva's color wheel picker online tool is known as the best for its user-friendly interface and versatile features. It allows users to quickly generate color schemes that are visually harmonious and can be directly applied to various design projects. However, if you want to make your videos pop, CapCut provides an advanced color wheel feature specifically designed for video content.
  5. What is a color calculator?

A color calculator is a digital tool designed to help artists and designers find, mix, and match colors easily. It guides users in creating color palettes that fit their projects perfectly. By inputting a base color, the tool offers suggestions for complementary, analogous, or contrasting colors, making it simple to achieve beautiful and cohesive designs. This tool is especially useful in graphic design, interior decorating, and fashion, where color harmony is key.

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