Build a palette, or pull one out of your logo, then see the closest of the 1,025 colors we actually stock, so you can see what your brand looks like on something real.
One item we stock in the closest color to each swatch above.
Matched to real stock
Most color tools hand you a hex code and stop there. This one compares each color against the 1,025 colors Promotional Product Inc actually stocks, names the closest one, and tells you how many products come in it. A palette stops being a mood board and becomes a shopping list.
Follow any color through to the full catalog to see the apparel, drinkware, bags and tech it is available on.
Our most stocked colors right now
One color, four ways to describe it
what your designer uses
what a screen uses
where a printer starts
whether text stays readable
Built for printing
Open any color to get its RGB, HSL and CMYK values, the contrast ratio against black and white text, and a row of lighter and darker steps. Copy one value, the whole palette, a CSS variable block or a Tailwind config.
CMYK here is a starting point, not a color-matched separation. Ink behaves differently on a ceramic mug, a polyester tote and coated card, which is why our artwork guidelines ask for a proof on anything color-critical.
Yours to keep
Drop in a logo and its colors are read inside your own browser, then discarded when the tab closes. The file is never sent to us. There is no account, no email wall and no watermark on anything you copy.
Your palette lives in the page address, so copying the link keeps it. You can also email it to yourself with every color value, or export it as an image, CSS or Tailwind.
No account
Use it as often as you like
No upload
Your logo stays in your browser
No watermark
Copy anything you make
No email wall
Email is optional, never required
Every palette below is built only from colors Promotional Product Inc stocks across a lot of products, so each one lands on real merchandise rather than a near miss. Open one and it loads straight into the generator, ready to lock, recolor and export. Each also links to the category it was built for.
Open any color in the generator and you get four numbers. They describe the same color four different ways, for four different people. Here is what each one is telling you, using the light blue this page opens with.
#81C1E9
The worked example used throughout this section.
129, 193, 233Screens and webRGB describes a color as parts of red, green and blue light, each from 0 to 255.
Higher numbers mean more of that light. 129, 193, 233 is a light blue because blue leads, green follows and red trails. All three at 255 is white; all three at 0 is black. Use RGB when someone asks for a color for a website, a slide deck or a video.
203°, 70%, 71%Picking a related colorHSL describes the same color as hue, saturation and lightness, which is closer to how people actually talk about color.
Hue is the position on the color wheel from 0 to 360 degrees, so 203° is squarely in the blues. Saturation is how vivid it is, and 70% is confident without being neon. Lightness is how pale it is, and 71% is well above the midpoint. Change lightness alone and you get a shade of the same color, which is exactly what the strip under each swatch does.
45, 17, 0, 9PrintingCMYK describes a color as percentages of cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink laid on a surface.
It is subtractive: you start with a blank surface and take light away with ink, which is the opposite of a screen adding light. 45, 17, 0, 9 means mostly cyan with a little magenta, no yellow at all and a touch of black. Treat these numbers as a starting point for a printer, not a color-matched separation, because the same ink lands differently on a ceramic mug, a polyester tote and coated card.
black 10.7:1Whether your logo will be readableBest ink names the text color that stays legible on this background, with the contrast ratio it achieves.
The ratio runs from 1:1, meaning invisible, to 21:1, which is black on white. The accessibility standard asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. 10.7:1 is comfortably clear, so a black imprint on this blue will read from across a room. Anything under 3:1 will disappear on a busy trade show floor no matter how good the artwork is.
A color palette generator is usually a design toy. This one is pointed at a narrower job: getting a brand onto physical merchandise without an unpleasant surprise at proof stage.
It happens on most orders. Drop the logo in, read the exact values off the swatches, and you have a brand sheet in under a minute without chasing whoever designed it.
Copy the link and send it. Whoever opens it sees the same palette, the same values, and the same products those colors are available on.
Screen printing charges per color, so a five-color logo means five screens and five setups. Seeing the palette laid out makes an expensive design obvious before it is quoted.
Every swatch shows the contrast ratio for black and white text. Under 3:1 and a logo will vanish on a busy floor, whatever the artwork looks like on a monitor.
Almost no brand color is stocked exactly, by anyone. The tool names the closest color that genuinely exists and tells you how many products carry it, which is the answer you can act on.
A shirt, a tote and a tumbler are dyed fabric, woven polypropylene and powder-coated steel. Working from one palette keeps them in the same family even though no two will match exactly.
When the palette is settled, send us the values along with the products you are considering and we will come back with a quote and a free visual proof. See how to order, or request a sample to check a color on the real material first.
The colors we carry across the most products. Every link opens the real listing.
PPI's color palette generator builds a palette when you press Generate, or pulls one straight out of an uploaded logo. Every swatch is compared against the colors PPI actually stocks, so each one shows a hex, RGB, HSL and CMYK value next to the closest real product color and how many products come in it.
A screen color will not match a product color exactly, and no supplier can honestly promise otherwise. A screen shows color as light, while a shirt is dyed thread, a tumbler is powder-coated steel and a pen is molded plastic, so each material reproduces the same hex value a little differently. Ask for a sample before a large order.
PPI's color palette generator never uploads or stores a logo file. The file is read and its colors worked out inside your own browser, then discarded when the tab closes, so it is never sent to PPI's servers, saved to an account, or shared with anyone else.
The CMYK values in this tool are a direct mathematical conversion from the on-screen color, with no color profile and no allowance for the material being printed on. Ink behaves differently on coated card, a ceramic mug and a polyester tote, so treat these numbers as a starting point and ask for a physical proof on a color-critical run.
A brand palette for merchandise works best with three to five colors: one dominant color, one supporting color, and one or two accents. Every extra color in a screen-printed design usually adds its own setup charge, so a tighter palette often means a cheaper order without losing brand recognition.
Screen printing uses a separate screen for each color in a design, and each screen usually carries its own setup charge, though the exact fee varies by product and order size. A five-color design makes a solid brand system and an expensive one-color print, so ask PPI for a quote once the palette is set.
Building or uploading a palette in this tool surfaces the closest color PPI stocks for each swatch, with a link to every product available in it. The match is chosen the way a human eye judges closeness, not by comparing raw numbers, and it favors a well-stocked color over a rare one when the two look the same.
A color-critical order needs the exact hex, RGB or CMYK value from this tool along with the product it should appear on, then a request for a physical proof before the full run. A proof is the only reliable way to confirm a color on the real material, because no screen shows dye, plastic or powder coat accurately.
PPI's color palette generator is free, with no account, no email address and no watermark on anything copied from it. You can use the tool as often as you like, whether you are placing an order with PPI today or planning a brand palette for later.
The tool accepts PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF and SVG files, the formats a logo or product photo is usually saved in. A logo file gives the cleanest palette because it uses a small number of flat colors, while a photo can return more colors than you expect.
The generator compares colors in a perceptually uniform color space, the way a human eye judges closeness, rather than by comparing raw red, green and blue numbers. When two stocked colors would look identical side by side, the tool shows the one carried on more products instead of a rarer color that measures a hair closer.
The color palette generator does not save a palette to an account. The palette lives in the page address, so copying the link keeps it, and emailing it to yourself keeps a copy with every color value. Closing the tab without doing either loses the palette.
The same color name can look different on two products, because a color name describes a supplier's dye lot or material batch rather than one fixed value. A single named color can shift slightly between a shirt, a bag and a mug, since each is made from a different base material. Ask for a sample when matching brand colors closely.
The generator can pull a palette from any photo, not only a logo, using the same PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF or SVG upload. A logo still gives the cleanest result because it uses a small number of flat colors instead of the gradients and shadows a photo usually contains.
See the full FAQ for ordering, shipping and account questions, or contact us with your color values to start a proof.
Send us the color values from this tool along with the products you are considering, and we will come back with a quote and a visual proof. See how to order to get started.