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Retro Color Palettes With Hex Codes

Every palette our pixel art converter ships, with hex and RGB values, swatches and a picture of what each one does to the same image.

Updated PixelConvertor

How the palettes are used

A retro palette is a short, fixed list of colors. When you pick one in the pixel art color palette tool or any other pixel art converter on this site, every pixel of the reduced image takes the nearest color from the list. Nearness is measured with a weighted RGB distance that counts differences in green most, then blue, then red, which is closer to how we see color than a plain RGB distance. The bit depth setting is ignored while a palette is selected, since the palette already decides the colors.

Fewer colors give a stronger retro look but lose more of the original shading. Dithering can bring some of that shading back by mixing two palette colors in a pattern; the dithering guide shows how.

Original illustration

Original illustration of an orange, a red apple and a lemon on a teal tablecloth

PICO-8

Fruit still life converted to the PICO-8 palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering

Game Boy

Fruit still life converted to the Game Boy palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering

NES-style

Fruit still life converted to the NES-style palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering

Commodore 64

Fruit still life converted to the Commodore 64 palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering

EGA

Fruit still life converted to the EGA palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering

CGA

Fruit still life converted to the CGA palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering

Minecraft wool

Fruit still life converted to the Minecraft wool palette, 100 × 100 grid, no dithering
The same still life at pixel size 8 (a 100 × 100 grid) in each palette, with dithering off. Every color you see in a result is one of the palette colors listed below.

PICO-8 (16 colors)

PICO-8 is a "fantasy console" by Lexaloffle with a 128 × 128 screen and a fixed set of 16 colors. The colors are bright and clearly distinct, and the set still includes skin tones, browns and two grays, so it covers a lot of subjects for its size.

ColorNameHexRGB
Black#0000000, 0, 0
Dark blue#1d2b5329, 43, 83
Dark purple#7e2553126, 37, 83
Dark green#0087510, 135, 81
Brown#ab5236171, 82, 54
Dark gray#5f574f95, 87, 79
Light gray#c2c3c7194, 195, 199
White#fff1e8255, 241, 232
Red#ff004d255, 0, 77
Orange#ffa300255, 163, 0
Yellow#ffec27255, 236, 39
Green#00e4360, 228, 54
Blue#29adff41, 173, 255
Lavender#83769c131, 118, 156
Pink#ff77a8255, 119, 168
Light peach#ffccaa255, 204, 170

Game Boy (4 colors)

The original Game Boy had a screen that showed four shades, with a green tint. These four greens recreate that look. With only four values, the palette works best on images with clear shapes and good contrast, and the Pokemon-style pixel art tool pairs it with Bayer 4×4 dithering to suggest more tones.

ColorNameHexRGB
Darkest green#0f380f15, 56, 15
Dark green#30623048, 98, 48
Light green#8bac0f139, 172, 15
Lightest green#9bbc0f155, 188, 15

NES-style (41 colors)

The NES had a fixed hardware palette of 64 entries, several of which are duplicates or black. Our NES-style palette is a 41-color list in that style, with duplicates removed. It has the widest range of any fixed palette here, so photos keep more of their shading. The 8-bit photo converter uses it with Bayer 8×8 dithering by default.

Color#HexRGB
0#7c7c7c124, 124, 124
1#0000fc0, 0, 252
2#0000bc0, 0, 188
3#4428bc68, 40, 188
4#940084148, 0, 132
5#a80020168, 0, 32
6#a81000168, 16, 0
7#881400136, 20, 0
8#50300080, 48, 0
9#0078000, 120, 0
10#0068000, 104, 0
11#0058000, 88, 0
12#0040580, 64, 88
13#0000000, 0, 0
14#bcbcbc188, 188, 188
15#0078f80, 120, 248
16#0058f80, 88, 248
17#6844fc104, 68, 252
18#d800cc216, 0, 204
19#e40058228, 0, 88
20#f83800248, 56, 0
21#e45c10228, 92, 16
22#ac7c00172, 124, 0
23#00b8000, 184, 0
24#00a8000, 168, 0
25#00a8440, 168, 68
26#0088880, 136, 136
27#f8f8f8248, 248, 248
28#3cbcfc60, 188, 252
29#6888fc104, 136, 252
30#9878f8152, 120, 248
31#f878f8248, 120, 248
32#f85898248, 88, 152
33#f87858248, 120, 88
34#fca044252, 160, 68
35#f8b800248, 184, 0
36#b8f818184, 248, 24
37#58d85488, 216, 84
38#58f89888, 248, 152
39#00e8d80, 232, 216
40#787878120, 120, 120

Commodore 64 (16 colors)

The Commodore 64 has 16 fixed colors. Compared with PICO-8, they are softer and more muted, with three grays and fewer saturated hues, which gives pictures a recognizable 1980s home-computer feel.

ColorNameHexRGB
Black#0000000, 0, 0
White#ffffff255, 255, 255
Red#880000136, 0, 0
Cyan#aaffee170, 255, 238
Purple#cc44cc204, 68, 204
Green#00cc550, 204, 85
Blue#0000aa0, 0, 170
Yellow#eeee77238, 238, 119
Orange#dd8855221, 136, 85
Brown#664400102, 68, 0
Light red#ff7777255, 119, 119
Dark gray#33333351, 51, 51
Gray#777777119, 119, 119
Light green#aaff66170, 255, 102
Light blue#0088ff0, 136, 255
Light gray#bbbbbb187, 187, 187

EGA (16 colors)

EGA graphics on IBM PCs could show 16 colors at once, and the default set is the one below: black, white, two grays, a dark and a light version of blue, green, cyan, red and magenta, plus brown and yellow.

ColorNameHexRGB
Black#0000000, 0, 0
Blue#0000aa0, 0, 170
Green#00aa000, 170, 0
Cyan#00aaaa0, 170, 170
Red#aa0000170, 0, 0
Magenta#aa00aa170, 0, 170
Brown#aa5500170, 85, 0
Light gray#aaaaaa170, 170, 170
Dark gray#55555585, 85, 85
Light blue#5555ff85, 85, 255
Light green#55ff5585, 255, 85
Light cyan#55ffff85, 255, 255
Light red#ff5555255, 85, 85
Light magenta#ff55ff255, 85, 255
Yellow#ffff55255, 255, 85
White#ffffff255, 255, 255

CGA (16 colors)

The CGA set has the same 16 colors as the EGA default palette. Color 6 is brown (#aa5500): the CGA chip produced dark yellow there, and IBM's monitor changed it to brown. The colors are listed in our converter's order.

ColorNameHexRGB
Black#0000000, 0, 0
Dark gray#55555585, 85, 85
Light gray#aaaaaa170, 170, 170
White#ffffff255, 255, 255
Cyan#00aaaa0, 170, 170
Magenta#aa00aa170, 0, 170
Brown#aa5500170, 85, 0
Green#00aa000, 170, 0
Blue#0000aa0, 0, 170
Red#aa0000170, 0, 0
Light magenta#ff55ff255, 85, 255
Light cyan#55ffff85, 255, 255
Yellow#ffff55255, 255, 85
Light green#55ff5585, 255, 85
Light blue#5555ff85, 85, 255
Light red#ff5555255, 85, 85

Minecraft wool (16 colors)

The 16 wool colors in Minecraft, in the game's usual dye order. Converting to this palette means every pixel matches a wool block you can place, which is how the Minecraft pixel art generator makes build plans. The Minecraft pixel art guide covers block counts and building.

ColorNameHexRGB
White#e9ecec233, 236, 236
Orange#f07613240, 118, 19
Magenta#bd44b3189, 68, 179
Light blue#3aafd958, 175, 217
Yellow#f8c627248, 198, 39
Lime#70b919112, 185, 25
Pink#ed8dac237, 141, 172
Gray#3e444762, 68, 71
Light gray#8e8e86142, 142, 134
Cyan#15899121, 137, 145
Purple#792aac121, 42, 172
Blue#35399d53, 57, 157
Brown#724728114, 71, 40
Green#546d1b84, 109, 27
Red#a12722161, 39, 34
Black#14151920, 21, 25

Palettes made from your image

Besides the fixed palettes, the converter has two other color modes. By bit depth reduces each color channel to fewer levels (16-bit, 8-bit) or uses a fixed set of 16 colors at 4-bit; the 8-bit vs 16-bit guide explains them. From the image builds a palette of 2 to 64 colors out of your picture with median cut, which keeps its own color scheme. That is often the better choice for logos and portraits, where a fixed palette may lack the exact hues you need.

Choosing a palette

Match the palette to the picture. Photos with skin, sky and foliage keep more detail in the NES-style palette or From the image. Bold graphics and sprites read well in PICO-8. Game Boy and CGA make a strong stylistic statement and suit images with simple shapes. If a result looks flat, try the same palette with ordered dithering before switching palettes.

Convert an image to a retro palette

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the PICO-8 colors in hex?

PICO-8 has 16 colors: #000000, #1d2b53, #7e2553, #008751, #ab5236, #5f574f, #c2c3c7, #fff1e8, #ff004d, #ffa300, #ffec27, #00e436, #29adff, #83769c, #ff77a8 and #ffccaa. The table on this page lists their names and RGB values.

What are the Game Boy green hex codes?

Our Game Boy palette uses four greens, from darkest to lightest: #0f380f, #306230, #8bac0f and #9bbc0f. The original Game Boy screen showed four shades, and these values are a common way to reproduce its green tint.

How many colors does the NES palette have?

The NES hardware palette has 64 entries, but several are duplicates or black, so it is usually counted as about 54 distinct colors. Our NES-style palette has 41 colors.

What is the difference between the CGA and EGA palettes?

In our converter both have the same 16 colors, including brown (#aa5500), so they give the same result. On real hardware the difference was that an EGA card could also pick its 16 colors from a set of 64.

Can I use my own palette?

The converter doesn't take a list of custom hex codes. You can choose From the image, which builds a palette of 2 to 64 colors from your picture, or one of the seven fixed palettes on this page.

Which retro palette should I start with?

PICO-8 is a good first choice because its 16 colors include bright, distinct hues and a few skin and earth tones. For a single-color look try Game Boy, and for a wider range of shades try the 41-color NES-style palette.