Back to all guides

How to import a color palette into Procreate

Turn any image into a Procreate palette in about a minute: a photo, a painting you love, or the reference for your next piece. It’s free, it works in Safari on your iPad, and your image never leaves your device.

By Neli Chaneva, 7 October 2026

Open Image to Palette

In Safari on your iPad, go to mycolourtaste.com/palette and tap Add image.

The Image to Palette page in Safari on an iPad, with the Add image button circled in red.

Choose where your image is

Tap Photo Library to pick from your photos. Choose File works for images saved in Files, and Take Photo lets you catch the colors around you.

The Add image menu open, with Photo Library circled in red.

Pick your image

Tap the image you want, then tap Done. The colors are found right there on your iPad, so nothing is uploaded.

The photo picker with one illustration selected and the Done button circled in red.
The rest of the photo library is blurred in this screenshot.

Check the palette, then export it

Image to Palette finds the main colors and the small accents. Use the Colours slider to choose how many swatches you want, and sort them as they sit in the image, light to dark, or by hue. Procreate gets the same colors in the same order.

When it looks right, tap Export palette.

The illustration with its ten-color palette below it, and the Export palette button circled in red.

Tap Procreate

Under Swatch files, tap Procreate. It makes a .swatches file, the format Procreate uses for palettes.

The Export palette window, with the Procreate .swatches button circled in red.

Tap Download

Safari asks whether to download image-to-palette.swatches. Tap Download.

Safari asking whether to download image-to-palette.swatches, with Download circled in red.

Open it from Safari’s downloads

Tap the downloads arrow at the top right of Safari (1), then tap image-to-palette in the list (2). Procreate opens and imports the palette straight away.

Can’t find it in the Files app? Open it from Safari’s downloads list instead, as shown here. It’s the quickest way.

Safari may show the file with a zip icon. That’s normal: a Procreate palette is a small zip file inside.

Safari’s downloads list open, with the downloads arrow marked 1 and the image-to-palette file marked 2.

Find your palette in Procreate

In Procreate, tap the color circle at the top right (1) and open the Palettes tab. Your new palette, called Image to Palette, is at the bottom of the list (2).

Tap its name to rename it. The ••• button next to it has more options, like setting it as your default palette.

Procreate with the Palettes panel open, the color circle marked 1 and the new Image to Palette palette marked 2.

Good to know

Working on a computer?

Export the Procreate file there, then AirDrop it to your iPad. Tapping it on the iPad imports it the same way.

Want the palette as a picture too?

In the same Export palette window, Save as image saves a picture of your palette, handy as a reference or to pin on Pinterest.

Using Photoshop or Illustrator?

The Adobe button in the same window makes an .ase swatch file for Photoshop and Illustrator.

All the artwork in these screenshots is by Neli Chaneva.

Open Image to Palette More guides