PaletteJSON

What is PaletteJSON?

PaletteJSON is an open schema for defining colour palettes in a structured, machine-readable way. Its goal is to make palettes easy to store, exchange, and extend across different tools and workflows.

Design Goals

💡 Clarity: palettes are just JSON.
📦 Extensibility: metadata, references, multiple colour spaces.
🔗 Interoperability:a bridgeable “hub” format for palettes, designed as a lingua franca for colour.

Examples

Simple
Complex

{
  "palettes": [
    {
      "name": "Cool Tones",
      "type": "categorical",
      "colors": [
        { "hex": "#1F77B4" },
        { "hex": "#17BECF" },
        { "hex": "#AEC7E8" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

{
  "palettes": [
    {
      "name": "Sunset Gradient",
      "slug": "sunset-gradient",
      "type": "sequential",
      "colors": [
        {
          "hex": "#003f5c",
          "position": 0,
          "references": { "pantone": { "code": "YYZ-2112 Not a Real Pantone Code" } }
        },
        { "hex": "#58508d", "position": 1 },
        { "hex": "#bc5090", "position": 2 },
        { "hex": "#ff6361", "position": 3 },
        { "hex": "#ffa600", "position": 4 }
      ]
    }
  ]
}