Complete UI Design Tools Documentation
Master professional design workflows with our comprehensive guides. Learn color theory, accessibility standards (WCAG AA/AAA), design system extraction, and production-ready code generation.
Getting Started with UIXcolors Design Tools
What is UIXcolors?
UIXcolors is a comprehensive suite of design tools built to help designers and developers create accessible, beautiful user interfaces. Our tools leverage AI and advanced algorithms to extract design systems, generate color palettes, and export production-ready code.
Core Features
- •Color Playground: Create and preview accessible color palettes with real-time contrast checking
- •Style Guide Generator: Extract complete design systems from any website
- •Color Converter: Convert between HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, and OKLCH formats
- •Contrast Checker: Verify WCAG AA/AAA accessibility compliance
- •QR Code Generator: Create customizable QR codes with logo support and SVG export
- •Gradient Maker: Create beautiful CSS gradients with live preview
Professional Tool Guides & Tutorials
Color Playground
Generate accessible UI color palettes with real-time preview. Supports multiple color scales, contrast checking, and export to CSS, Tailwind, or Figma.
Style Guide Generator
Extract colors, fonts, logos, icons, and complete design systems from any website. Uses Playwright for accurate rendered styles.
Color Converter
Convert colors between HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, CMYK, OKLCH, and Pantone formats. Perfect for cross-platform design workflows.
Contrast Checker
Verify color contrast ratios against WCAG standards. Ensure your designs are accessible for all users including those with visual impairments.
Export Formats, API & Design System Integration
Export Formats
All our tools support multiple export formats to integrate seamlessly with your workflow:
- CSS/SCSS variables
- Tailwind CSS configuration
- JSON design tokens
- Figma plugin compatible formats
- JavaScript/TypeScript modules
Accessibility
We prioritize accessibility in all our tools. Color palettes automatically check WCAG contrast ratios, and our style guide extractor identifies accessibility issues in extracted designs. All generated code follows accessibility best practices.
Frequently Asked Questions About UIXcolors
General Questions
Is UIXcolors free to use?
Yes! All our core design tools are completely free to use. We believe professional design tools should be accessible to everyone - from students learning web design to experienced professionals building production applications. No hidden fees, no credit card required.
Do I need to create an account?
No account is required for any of our tools. You can start creating color palettes, extracting style guides, and generating CSS code immediately without signing up. Your work is saved locally in your browser, giving you complete privacy and control over your designs.
What makes UIXcolors different from other design tools?
UIXcolors focuses on accessibility-first design with WCAG compliance built into every tool. Our Style Guide Generator uses real browser rendering (Playwright) for 100% accurate extraction, unlike competitors that parse HTML/CSS statically. We also provide production-ready code exports in multiple formats (CSS, Tailwind, JSON) that work seamlessly with modern development workflows.
Color Palette & Conversion Questions
How does the Color Playground ensure accessibility?
Every color combination is automatically checked against WCAG 2.1 standards for both AA and AAA compliance. The tool displays real-time contrast ratios and visual indicators showing which text sizes pass accessibility requirements. You can also preview your palette on actual UI components to ensure readability in real-world scenarios.
What color formats does the Color Converter support?
We support all major color formats: HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV, CMYK (for print), OKLCH (modern perceptual), and closest Pantone matches. The converter maintains color accuracy across all formats and provides one-click copying for seamless integration into your workflow. OKLCH support is especially useful for consistent color manipulation and modern CSS.
Can I generate color scales automatically?
Yes! The Color Playground includes intelligent color scale generation that creates 9-11 shade variants from any base color. Our algorithm ensures perceptually uniform lightness steps and maintains hue consistency, making it perfect for design systems. You can also use Smart Randomize to generate entire palettes based on color theory principles.
How accurate is the Pantone color matching?
Our Pantone matcher uses Delta E (ΔE) color difference algorithm to find the closest match from the Pantone Solid Coated library. While screen colors can never perfectly match physical print colors due to different color spaces (RGB vs CMYK), we provide the mathematically closest match with the distance value so you can make informed decisions.
Style Guide Generator Questions
How does the Style Guide Generator work?
Our extractor uses Playwright to load and render the target website in a real browser, then analyzes the computed styles of all elements. This approach captures exactly what users see, including CSS-in-JS, dynamic styles, and pseudo-elements. We extract colors, fonts (with weights and sizes), spacing patterns, border radiuses, shadows, icons, logos, and button styles.
What websites can I extract from?
You can extract from any publicly accessible website URL. This includes marketing pages, web applications, documentation sites, and portfolios. Some sites with aggressive anti-bot protection may be difficult to extract, but most modern websites work perfectly. The extraction typically takes 10-30 seconds depending on page complexity.
Can I use extracted designs commercially?
Our tools are designed for learning, inspiration, and competitive analysis. While you can extract any public website, you must respect intellectual property rights. Using extracted content for direct copying is not recommended. Instead, use extractions to understand design patterns, learn color theory, analyze competitor strategies, or create mood boards. Always create original work.
Does it extract responsive design breakpoints?
Currently, the extractor captures styles from desktop viewport. We analyze media queries present in the stylesheets and display them in the results. Responsive breakpoint extraction across multiple viewports is planned for a future update and will allow you to see how designs adapt across mobile, tablet, and desktop sizes.
What font information is extracted?
We extract font families, weights (100-900), sizes (in px and rem), line heights, letter spacing, and text colors. For Google Fonts, we provide direct CDN links. For custom fonts, we show the font-family declaration and weight variations used. This data is perfect for recreating typography scales in your own design system.
Accessibility & WCAG Compliance
What is WCAG and why does it matter?
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are international standards for making web content accessible to people with disabilities. WCAG AA is the legal requirement in many countries, while AAA is the highest level of accessibility. Our Contrast Checker verifies your color combinations meet these standards, ensuring your designs work for users with visual impairments, color blindness, or low vision conditions.
What contrast ratio should I aim for?
For WCAG AA compliance: 4.5:1 for normal text (under 18px) and 3:1 for large text (18px+ or 14px+ bold). For AAA: 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. We recommend targeting AA as the minimum and AAA when possible for maximum accessibility. Our tools clearly indicate which level each color combination achieves with visual badges and icons.
Can I test colors for color blindness?
While we don't currently have a color blindness simulator, our WCAG contrast checker helps ensure sufficient contrast which benefits all users including those with color vision deficiency. We recommend using color combinations with strong lightness differences rather than relying solely on hue differences. A dedicated color blindness testing feature is on our roadmap.
Export Formats & Integration
What export formats are available?
We support CSS variables (custom properties), SCSS variables, Tailwind CSS configuration, JavaScript/TypeScript modules, and JSON design tokens. Each format is production-ready with proper naming conventions and includes both light and dark theme variants where applicable. You can copy individual values or export entire palettes with one click.
Can I import into Figma or Sketch?
You can copy color values and manually add them to Figma/Sketch color libraries. We're working on direct plugin integration for both platforms. For now, the JSON export format can be used with third-party design token plugins like Design Tokens for Figma or Style Dictionary to automate the import process.
How do I integrate exported colors into my React/Next.js app?
For React/Next.js, we recommend using CSS variables exported to your global CSS file (globals.css). This allows theme switching without JavaScript and works with Tailwind CSS. Import the generated CSS variables at the :root level and reference them in your Tailwind config using CSS variables. Example: colors: { primary: 'oklch(var(--primary))' }.
Does it work with design systems like Material UI or Chakra?
Yes! Our color exports can be integrated into any design system. For Material UI, map our color scales to their theme palette. For Chakra UI, use our color objects in their theme extensions. The JSON export format follows industry standards and is compatible with most design system configuration structures. We provide examples in our documentation.
Technical & Performance
What browsers are supported?
All modern browsers are fully supported: Chrome 90+, Firefox 88+, Safari 14+, and Edge 90+. We use modern web APIs (CSS custom properties, color-mix, OKLCH) with graceful fallbacks. For the best experience with all features including OKLCH color space support, use the latest version of Chrome, Safari 15+, or Firefox 113+.
Is my data stored or sent to servers?
Most tools work entirely in your browser using local storage - your color palettes and settings never leave your device. The Style Guide Generator requires server-side processing (Playwright) but we don't store extracted content beyond the session. We respect your privacy and don't track URLs you extract or designs you create.
Why is the Style Guide extraction slow sometimes?
Extraction speed depends on the target website's complexity and loading time. Sites with heavy JavaScript, many images, or slow servers take longer to fully render. We wait for the page to be fully interactive before analysis to ensure accuracy. Typical extraction takes 10-30 seconds. Very complex single-page applications (SPAs) may take up to 60 seconds.
Can I use UIXcolors offline?
The Color Playground, Color Converter, and Contrast Checker work offline after the initial page load thanks to progressive web app (PWA) capabilities. However, the Style Guide Generator and tools that fetch external resources require an internet connection to function properly.
How do I report bugs or request features?
We actively maintain and improve UIXcolors based on user feedback. Report bugs or request features through our GitHub repository issues page, or contact us via email. We prioritize features that benefit the widest user base and are aligned with our mission of accessible, professional design tools for everyone.