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.

75 palettes

Sepia 8

8 colors

A single warm brown ramp: old photographs, parchment maps, and sepia flashbacks.

MagicPixel

monochrome
warm
retro

Endesga 32

32 colors

A do-everything 32-color set: full skin, foliage, metal, and sky ramps in one palette.

Endesga

general
vibrant
warm

Dungeon Torchlit

12 colors

Warm torch falloff over cold stone: the classic dungeon-crawler lighting split.

MagicPixel

dungeon
warm
fire

Stone & Brick

8 colors

Warm masonry tones for brick, sandstone, and mortar tiles.

MagicPixel

stone
warm
environment

Mine Shaft

10 colors

Timber, dirt, and ore-flecked rock for mineshafts, tunnels, and quarry tiles.

MagicPixel

dungeon
warm
stone

Autumn Woods

10 colors

Rust, amber, and ochre for fall foliage, hay, and harvest scenes.

MagicPixel

nature
warm
forest

Desert Dunes

8 colors

Eight sand values from shadowed dune to blown-out highlight.

MagicPixel

nature
warm
desert

Coral Reef

12 colors

Tropical reef colors: teal water against hot coral pinks and oranges.

MagicPixel

nature
water
vibrant

Wood & Bark

8 colors

A single clean wood ramp for planks, crates, trunks, and furniture.

MagicPixel

nature
warm
texture

Dawn Light

10 colors

Cool-to-warm sunrise gradient for morning skies and soft rim light.

MagicPixel

sky
warm
pastel

Dusk Glow

10 colors

Sunset falloff from violet shadow to burning horizon, in even steps.

MagicPixel

sky
warm
sunset

Tropical Sunset

10 colors

Hot sunset ramp with one sea-blue anchor so water still reads at dusk.

MagicPixel

sky
warm
vibrant

Fire & Embers

8 colors

A dedicated flame ramp for torches, explosions, and ember particles.

MagicPixel

fire
warm
effects

Volcano Ash

10 colors

Ashen grays warmed by cooling rock: volcanic slopes and burnt ground.

MagicPixel

environment
warm
dark

Lava Forge

10 colors

Black rock cracking into molten orange: lava tiles and forge interiors.

MagicPixel

fire
warm
dark

Skin Tones 12

12 colors

A broad twelve-step skin ramp covering deep to light tones on one continuous curve.

MagicPixel

characters
skin
warm

Hair Colors 12

12 colors

Black, brown, blonde, ginger, and gray hair ramps compressed into one palette.

MagicPixel

characters
warm
general

Ranger Leathers

10 colors

Forest greens over worn leather for rangers, hunters, and scouts.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
green

Blood Moon

8 colors

A single crimson ramp for horror lighting, cursed skies, and vampire scenes.

MagicPixel

horror
warm
dark

Gold & Gems

12 colors

A full gold ramp plus sapphire and ruby accents for loot and inventory icons.

MagicPixel

items
fantasy
gold

Iron & Rust

8 colors

Cold iron with two oxide tones for weathered weapons, chains, and machinery.

MagicPixel

metal
items
texture

Medieval Town

16 colors

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

MagicPixel

environment
fantasy
town

Cozy Cottage

12 colors

Soft interior warmth for cottages, inns, and cozy farm-sim rooms.

MagicPixel

environment
warm
cozy

Pirate Cove

12 colors

Weathered deck wood against harbor teal: ships, docks, and coastal towns.

MagicPixel

environment
water
warm

Farm Harvest

12 colors

Soil, wheat, and crop greens for farming games and harvest scenes.

MagicPixel

environment
warm
nature

Bakery Warm

10 colors

Crust-to-dough browns with a jam-red accent for bread, pastries, and food icons.

MagicPixel

items
warm
cozy

Retro CRT Amber

8 colors

The amber monitor variant: warm monochrome for old computers and consoles.

MagicPixel

retro
warm
monochrome

UI Parchment

8 colors

Warm paper values for dialog boxes, scrolls, maps, and inventory panels.

MagicPixel

ui
warm
fantasy

Warm Earth 16

16 colors

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

MagicPixel

warm
nature
general

Four Color Warm

4 colors

A Game Boy-style four-tone set in warm tones: tight constraint, warm mood.

MagicPixel

low-color
warm
monochrome

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

Sand & Ruins

8 colors

Sun-bleached sandstone with one dusty green for scrub: desert temples and buried ruins.

MagicPixel

environment
desert
warm

Factory Floor

11 colors

Machine gray with hazard yellow and rust: conveyor belts, presses, and warehouse tiles.

MagicPixel

industrial
metal
interior

Rooftop Dawn

10 colors

Purple-to-peach sky steps with a cool building ramp for silhouetted skylines.

MagicPixel

city
sunset
warm

Dragon Scales

11 colors

Ember-red scale values with a horn-and-claw ramp: big warm-blooded beasts.

MagicPixel

monsters
fantasy
red

Skin Tones Deep

8 colors

An eight-step ramp built for deep skin tones, with enough value spread to shade faces at 32px.

MagicPixel

skin
characters
warm

Tavern at Night

10 colors

Candle-warmed timber with cool shadow tones: inns, taverns, and firelit rooms.

MagicPixel

interior
town
warm

Dusty Library

10 colors

Old paper, leather bindings, and shelf shadow, with a green shade-lamp accent.

MagicPixel

interior
wood
texture

Blacksmith Forge

11 colors

Soot-dark stone with a hot coal ramp and cold anvil grays: smithies and workshops.

MagicPixel

interior
metal
fire

Market Awnings

12 colors

Striped canvas colors over a wood-and-dirt base: busy market and bazaar tiles.

MagicPixel

town
environment
vibrant

Ship Deck

10 colors

Weathered planking and rope with sea-blue accents for decks, docks, and hulls.

MagicPixel

town
wood
environment

Baked Goods

10 colors

Crust-to-crumb browns with a jam accent: bread, pastry, and cooking-game props.

MagicPixel

items
warm
cozy

Coins & Currency

10 colors

A gold ramp plus silver values: coins, ingots, and currency UI at any size.

MagicPixel

items
gold
metal

Explosion VFX

10 colors

A hot-core to smoke ramp ordered for frame-by-frame blast animation.

MagicPixel

effects
vfx
fire

Copper & Bronze

8 colors

A ruddy metal ramp for bronze fittings, copper pipes, and steampunk trim.

MagicPixel

metal
texture
warm

Cloth & Linen

8 colors

Undyed fabric values: tunics, sails, bandages, and anything that should look woven.

MagicPixel

texture
muted
warm

Leather & Hide

8 colors

Tanned-hide browns with enough separation for straps, boots, and armor detailing.

MagicPixel

texture
warm
armor

Brick & Mortar

10 colors

Brick reds paired with mortar grays so masonry tiles read at a glance.

MagicPixel

texture
stone
town

Thatch & Straw

8 colors

Dry straw values for roofs, haystacks, baskets, and rural rooftops.

MagicPixel

texture
warm
town

Duotone Teal & Orange

8 colors

The film-grade complementary pair, ramped for pixel art without muddying the mids.

MagicPixel

low-color
high-contrast
illustration

Monochrome Amber

6 colors

A warm amber ramp for lamplight studies, sepia scenes, and CRT-amber mockups.

MagicPixel

monochrome
warm
low-color

Two-Bit Sepia

4 colors

Four aged-paper values: the Game Boy exercise in a warm, old-photograph key.

MagicPixel

low-color
monochrome
retro

Four-Color Sunset

4 colors

Four steps from night violet to sun gold: tiny palettes that still feel atmospheric.

MagicPixel

low-color
warm
sunset

Salt Flats

6 colors

Cracked pale mineral crust for sun-bleached flats and dry lakebeds.

MagicPixel

environment
desert
muted

Canyon Strata

7 colors

Layered sandstone bands from shadowed base rock to sunlit rim.

MagicPixel

environment
desert
warm

Badlands Dusk

7 colors

Purple shadow into ember light for arid country at last light.

MagicPixel

environment
desert
sunset

Geyser Basin

7 colors

Mineral terrace neutrals with steam-pale tops for thermal ground.

MagicPixel

environment
stone
warm

Wheat and Dust

7 colors

Golden crop tones for late-summer fields and dry farm paths.

MagicPixel

nature
warm
desert

Rust Belt Station

7 colors

Oxidized hull browns for aging stations and salvage corridors.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
industrial
metal

Quarantine Orange

7 colors

Hazard-marking oranges layered over dark plating for warning zones.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
industrial
warm

Loading more palettes…

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.