What is a pixel art color palette?

A pixel art color palette is a fixed, deliberately small set of colors you commit to for a sprite, a tileset, or a whole game. Limiting yourself forces clearer values and keeps every asset looking like it belongs to the same world, which is why hardware palettes like the Game Boy’s four greens still produce such readable art.

How many colors should a palette have?

For a single 16×16 or 32×32 sprite, 4 to 16 colors is plenty: one dark, one mid, one light per material, plus an outline. Reach for 32 or more only when a scene needs many materials at once. Fewer colors read better at small sizes and are far faster to shade consistently.

How do I use these palettes in MagicPixel?

Browsing and copying hex codes is free, and saving a palette takes a free account. Add a palette to your account here, then open the editor and it appears in the palette picker in the color sidebar. You can also snap an existing artboard to it from the palette button beside the canvas, which remaps every pixel to the nearest color in the set.

Can I import my own palette file?

Yes. The editor imports .gpl (GIMP / Aseprite), .pal (JASC and RIFF), and .hex files, so any palette file you download from a community site or export from another tool can be loaded as a custom palette.

How do I copy the hex codes?

Every palette has its own page listing each hex code. Click a single swatch to copy that one value, or use the copy button to grab the whole palette as a newline separated list you can paste into Aseprite, GIMP, Godot, Unity, or a CSS file.

Are these palettes free to use commercially?

Yes. Hardware and community palettes listed here are factual color sets or CC0 releases, and the MagicPixel-authored palettes are free to use in any project, commercial or otherwise. Colors themselves are not copyrightable.

Pixel art color palettes

Free palettes with every hex code listed: hardware classics like Game Boy, PICO-8 and NES, plus ramps built for dungeons, characters and tilesets. 256 palettes, one click to save any of them.

Every retro color palette here lists its full hex codes. Copy them straight off any palette page, or add a palette to your account and it shows up in the pixel art editor color sidebar, ready to draw with or to snap an existing sprite onto. Already have favourites from Aseprite or another editor? MagicPixel also imports .gpl, .pal and .hex palette files. New to working inside a limited set? Start with the color palette guide.

Chasing that 8-bit and 16-bit look? pulled straight from the consoles and computers that defined them.

Popular palettes: Game Boy DMG, PICO-8, NES, Commodore 64, CGA 16, ZX Spectrum.

28 palettes

PICO-8

16 colors

The 16 colors of the PICO-8 fantasy console: punchy, readable, and famously hard to make ugly.

Lexaloffle

console
retro
high-contrast

CGA 16

16 colors

The IBM CGA 16-color set every DOS game grew up on: harsh, saturated, unmistakably 1985.

IBM (hardware)

console
retro
high-contrast

Commodore 64

16 colors

VIC-II's 16 colors: dusty browns and mid grays that force clever dithering.

Commodore (hardware)

console
retro
muted

NES Sampler

16 colors

A working 16-color slice of the NES master palette, kept to hues the PPU can actually pair.

Nintendo (hardware)

console
retro
high-contrast

Apple II

16 colors

Apple II double-hires colors: strange magentas and mint greens that read as instantly vintage.

Apple (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

Macintosh 16

16 colors

The classic Mac OS 16: clean primaries plus a proper gray ramp for interface pixel art.

Apple (system)

ui
retro
high-contrast

VGA System 16

16 colors

The default Windows/VGA sixteen: the palette of early icons, cursors, and toolbars.

IBM / Microsoft (system)

ui
retro
high-contrast

Grayscale 16

16 colors

A full sixteen-step gray ramp for gradients, smoke, and metal without any hue bias.

MagicPixel

grayscale
monochrome
16-color

Sweetie 16

16 colors

Sixteen balanced colors with clean dark-to-light ramps: a modern PICO-8 alternative.

GrafxKid

general
vibrant
high-contrast

Necromancer

16 colors

Deathly greens and violet shadow with a blood accent for undead-themed sprites.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
horror

Medieval Town

16 colors

Timber, plaster, slate, and banner colors: a complete village tileset palette.

MagicPixel

environment
fantasy
town

Cyber Alley

16 colors

A full cyberpunk kit: cold structural blues plus magenta and cyan light sources.

MagicPixel

cyberpunk
dark
city

Warm Earth 16

16 colors

A dense warm ramp for terrain, wood, leather, and autumn scenes.

MagicPixel

warm
nature
general

Cool Ocean 16

16 colors

Blues and teals from abyss to foam, with two violet shadows for depth.

MagicPixel

cool
water
general

Pastel 16

16 colors

Soft, low-contrast pastels for cute characters, UI, and casual art.

MagicPixel

pastel
bright
cute

Amstrad CPC Sampler

16 colors

Sixteen of the Amstrad CPC’s 27 firm-hued colors: blunt primaries with just enough mid tones to shade.

Amstrad (hardware)

console
retro
high-contrast

EGA 64 Sampler

16 colors

A workable 16 from the EGA 64: the extra mid tones CGA never had, still unmistakably DOS.

IBM (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

MSX2 Sampler

16 colors

Sixteen evenly stepped MSX2 tones: three-value ramps per hue, exactly how 8-bit shading works.

Yamaha / ASCII (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

Master System Sampler

16 colors

A 16-color slice of the Master System VDP: two-bit-per-channel steps, arcade-bright.

Sega (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

Game Gear Sampler

16 colors

Sixteen slightly hazy Game Gear tones: the softer, screen-washed cousin of the Master System set.

Sega (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

PC-98 Sampler

16 colors

The lilac-and-rose 16 that Japanese PC-98 art is remembered for: soft, painterly, unmistakable.

NEC (hardware)

retro
16-color
pastel

Atari ST

16 colors

The default Atari ST 16: full-strength hues plus their halves, the classic demo-scene starting point.

Atari (hardware)

retro
16-color
high-contrast

Commodore Plus/4 Sampler

16 colors

The TED chip’s luminance-heavy character: many grays, earthy hues, and gentle contrast steps.

Commodore (hardware)

retro
16-color
muted

Thomson MO5

16 colors

France’s school-computer palette: saturated primaries with a handful of pastel softeners.

Thomson (hardware)

retro
16-color
bright

Sharp X68000 Sampler

16 colors

A 16-color slice in the X68000 arcade-port idiom: deep blues, hot reds, crisp highlights.

Sharp (hardware)

retro
16-color
illustration

Neo Geo Pocket Sampler

16 colors

Sixteen mild handheld tones: value-first, with just enough hue to separate materials.

SNK (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

WonderSwan Sampler

16 colors

A near-neutral handheld set with warm and cool tints layered over a gray spine.

Bandai (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

Sixteen-Color Jam

16 colors

A balanced general-purpose 16: six neutrals, warm and cool ramps, one violet accent.

MagicPixel

starter
16-color
general

Provenance and licensing. Hardware and system palettes here (Game Boy, PICO-8, CGA, C64, ZX Spectrum, NES and friends) are factual color sets from the machines themselves, credited on each card. Community palettes are included only when released CC0, credited to their authors. Every other palette is authored by MagicPixel. All of them are free to use in your projects, commercial work included, and color values themselves are not copyrightable.

Pixel art color palettes, explained

What is a pixel art color palette?: A pixel art color palette is a fixed, deliberately small set of colors you commit to for a sprite, a tileset, or a whole game. Limiting yourself forces clearer values and keeps every asset looking like it belongs to the same world, which is why hardware palettes like the Game Boy’s four greens still produce such readable art.
How many colors should a palette have?: For a single 16×16 or 32×32 sprite, 4 to 16 colors is plenty: one dark, one mid, one light per material, plus an outline. Reach for 32 or more only when a scene needs many materials at once. Fewer colors read better at small sizes and are far faster to shade consistently.
How do I use these palettes in MagicPixel?: Browsing and copying hex codes is free, and saving a palette takes a free account. Add a palette to your account here, then open the editor and it appears in the palette picker in the color sidebar. You can also snap an existing artboard to it from the palette button beside the canvas, which remaps every pixel to the nearest color in the set.
Can I import my own palette file?: Yes. The editor imports .gpl (GIMP / Aseprite), .pal (JASC and RIFF), and .hex files, so any palette file you download from a community site or export from another tool can be loaded as a custom palette.
How do I copy the hex codes?: Every palette has its own page listing each hex code. Click a single swatch to copy that one value, or use the copy button to grab the whole palette as a newline separated list you can paste into Aseprite, GIMP, Godot, Unity, or a CSS file.
Are these palettes free to use commercially?: Yes. Hardware and community palettes listed here are factual color sets or CC0 releases, and the MagicPixel-authored palettes are free to use in any project, commercial or otherwise. Colors themselves are not copyrightable.