Skip the endless palette sites. Pick one accent color and get a matching second accent, tints and shades, chart colors and gradients that blend smoothly. Check them on a live slide preview and copy the HEX codes as they are.
🎨 Auto partner colorChart colors includedPowerPoint-ready values
Here is how to pick presentation colors. Dark text on a white background plus two accents is enough. Make the first accent a bold color that grabs attention. Make the second one a much less saturated color from the same or a neighboring hue. If you need more color, use lighter and darker versions of those two accents instead of adding new ones.
STEP 1Pick your accent color
STEP 2Suggested paletteClick a color to copy its HEX code
Tints and shades
When you need more color, use lighter and darker versions of your two accents instead of new colors. Light tints work well for table row backgrounds and large shapes.
Slide preview
Cover · "Same hue, lighter" gradient
Content · accent and partner color in use
Chart colorsClick a color to copy its HEX code
Suggested gradientsClick a stop to copy its HEX code
How to use these in PowerPoint
For a solid color, open Format Shape > Fill > Solid fill > Color > More Colors > Custom tab and paste the HEX code into the Hex field.
For a gradient, choose Fill > Gradient fill, set Type to Linear and Angle to 45°, then enter the position and color of the three stops above in order.
If you skip the middle stop, the area between the two colors can turn grayish.
Examples
3 ready-to-use presentation color schemes
These come from rules distilled from 15 years and hundreds of proposal decks. All three use #222222 text on a #FFFFFF background. Click a name to open that palette in the tool above.
A blue or purple accent pairs with a light gray that has almost no color left. Only the accent stands out, which suits finance, IT and public sector decks where trust matters.
Red, orange and yellow accents pair with a warm gray made by draining most of the saturation from the same hue. It keeps a bright orange from feeling loud, a safe choice for retail, food and marketing decks.
Green and teal accents pair with a blue gray shifted a little around the color wheel at about half the saturation. With similar lightness they sit together calmly, great for ESG, healthcare and education slides.
How It Works
How this tool builds your palette
Two bright colors side by side compete with each other and make slides busy. This tool lets your accent pop and picks a second color from the same or a neighboring hue with lower saturation to support it.
STEP 1
Pick an accent
Enter your brand color or a client's logo color as a HEX code, or pick one from the color picker.
STEP 2
Review the palette
The partner color, tints and shades, and chart colors fill in automatically. Not happy with the partner? Click Try another partner.
STEP 3
Copy and use
Check the preview, then move the HEX codes and gradient stops straight into PowerPoint.
FAQ
Presentation color FAQ
How many colors should a presentation use?
Dark text on a white background plus two accent colors is enough. If you need more, use darker and lighter versions of your two accents instead of adding new colors. Your slides will look much less busy.
Where should I use the accent color?
Only where you really need attention: key numbers, conclusion sentences, or the one bar in a chart you want to highlight. A common rule of thumb is 60 percent background, 30 percent secondary and 10 percent accent.
How is the second accent color chosen?
It comes from the same or a neighboring hue with much lower saturation. That way two bright colors do not compete. The main accent pops and the second one supports it. Blues and purples get a gray partner, reds, oranges and yellows get a muted version of the same hue, and greens and teals get a neighboring hue. Use the Try another partner button to switch.
What if my chart needs many colors?
If there is one item to highlight, color only that item with the accent and leave the rest gray. That reads best. If every item needs its own color, try the same family set first. It uses five shades of your accent and its partner color, so it flows with the rest of the deck. If there are so many items that lightness alone gets confusing, use the muted multi-color set. Every color except the accent is toned down, so only the accent stands out.
Why do PowerPoint gradients look muddy?
PowerPoint blends two colors in a simple way, so joining two very different hues turns the middle grayish. This tool calculates the middle color in a perceptually even color space and gives it to you as a 50% stop. Enter all three stops and the gradient stays clean.
How do I use these colors in PowerPoint?
Select a shape, open Format Shape > Fill > Solid fill > Color > More Colors, and paste the HEX code into the Hex field on the Custom tab. For gradients, choose Fill > Gradient fill, set Type to Linear and Angle to 45°, then enter each stop's position and color in order.
Can I change the text and background colors?
Yes. When you do, the tool checks whether text is still readable and whether the accent still stands out, and rates it as Good match, Caution or Poor match. The second accent and chart colors adjust their lightness automatically so they do not blend into the background.
More free tools for your documents
Shrink heavy PDFs before you send them, or convert Korean HWP files to PDF. Made by HADA Company, a proposal and presentation design studio in Korea.