Colorblind Palettes

There are a few resources around that have examples for colorblind-friendly palettes. However, many of them are tedious to use, as they provide PDF/PNG images, or packages for programming languages. This page collects some palettes in an easy-to-use/easy-to-copy manner, especially for matplotlib: The "RGB Tuples" or hex codes can be copied verbatim as color for matplotlib's plotting functions.

See also

Contents

# Seaborn colorblind 10 colors

Source: https://seaborn.pydata.org/tutorial/color_palettes.html#qualitative-color-palettes

Adjusted version of matplotlib's default tab10 palette for color blindness.

Hex RGB-Tuple
blue #0173b2 (0.00392156862745098, 0.45098039215686275, 0.6980392156862745)
orange #de8f05 (0.8705882352941177, 0.5607843137254902, 0.0196078431372549)
green #029e73 (0.00784313725490196, 0.6196078431372549, 0.45098039215686275)
red #d55e00 (0.8352941176470589, 0.3686274509803922, 0.0)
purple #cc78bc (0.8, 0.47058823529411764, 0.7372549019607844)
brown #ca9161 (0.792156862745098, 0.5686274509803921, 0.3803921568627451)
pink #fbafe4 (0.984313725490196, 0.6862745098039216, 0.8941176470588236)
gray #949494 (0.5803921568627451, 0.5803921568627451, 0.5803921568627451)
olive #ece133 (0.9254901960784314, 0.8823529411764706, 0.2)
cyan #56b4e9 (0.33725490196078434, 0.7058823529411765, 0.9137254901960784)

Python (full palette)

# Paul Tol's Bright 7 colors

Source: https://sronpersonalpages.nl/~pault/data/colourschemes.pdf

Bright qualitative scheme. Works well for plot lines and map regions, but not as text background.

Hex RGB-Tuple
blue #4477aa (0.26666666666666666, 0.4666666666666667, 0.6666666666666666)
cyan #66ccee (0.4, 0.8, 0.9333333333333333)
green #228833 (0.13333333333333333, 0.5333333333333333, 0.2)
yellow #ccbb44 (0.8, 0.7333333333333333, 0.26666666666666666)
red #ee6677 (0.9333333333333333, 0.4, 0.4666666666666667)
purple #aa3377 (0.6666666666666666, 0.2, 0.4666666666666667)
grey #bbbbbb (0.7333333333333333, 0.7333333333333333, 0.7333333333333333)

Python (full palette)

# Paul Tol's Muted 10 colors

Source: https://sronpersonalpages.nl/~pault/data/colourschemes.pdf

Muted qualitative color scheme. Works well for plot lines and map regions, but not as text background.

Hex RGB-Tuple
indigo #332288 (0.2, 0.13333333333333333, 0.5333333333333333)
cyan #88ccee (0.5333333333333333, 0.8, 0.9333333333333333)
teal #44aa99 (0.26666666666666666, 0.6666666666666666, 0.6)
green #117733 (0.06666666666666667, 0.4666666666666667, 0.2)
olive #999933 (0.6, 0.6, 0.2)
sand #ddcc77 (0.8666666666666667, 0.8, 0.4666666666666667)
rose #cc6677 (0.8, 0.4, 0.4666666666666667)
wine #882255 (0.5333333333333333, 0.13333333333333333, 0.3333333333333333)
purple #aa4499 (0.6666666666666666, 0.26666666666666666, 0.6)
pale grey #dddddd (0.8666666666666667, 0.8666666666666667, 0.8666666666666667)

Python (full palette)

# Paul Tol's High Contrast 4 colors

Source: https://sronpersonalpages.nl/~pault/data/colourschemes.pdf

High-contrast scheme, optimized for contrast. Also works when converted to grayscale. Technically, "white" (#FFFFFF) is also part of this scheme, but somewhat pointless to include.

Hex RGB-Tuple
yellow #ddaa33 (0.8666666666666667, 0.6666666666666666, 0.2)
red #bb5566 (0.7333333333333333, 0.3333333333333333, 0.4)
blue #004488 (0.0, 0.26666666666666666, 0.5333333333333333)
black #000000 (0.0, 0.0, 0.0)

Python (full palette)

# Okabe and Ito's palette 8 colors

Source: https://jfly.uni-koeln.de/color/

Masatake Okabe and Kei Ito propose this palette, which has unambiguous vivid colors with names that are easy to identify.

Hex RGB-Tuple
black #000000 (0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
orange #e69f00 (0.9019607843137255, 0.6235294117647059, 0.0)
sky blue #56b4e9 (0.33725490196078434, 0.7058823529411765, 0.9137254901960784)
bluish green #009e73 (0.0, 0.6196078431372549, 0.45098039215686275)
yellow #f0e442 (0.9411764705882353, 0.8941176470588236, 0.25882352941176473)
blue #0072b2 (0.0, 0.4470588235294118, 0.6980392156862745)
vermilion #d55e00 (0.8352941176470589, 0.3686274509803922, 0.0)
reddish purple #cc79a7 (0.8, 0.4745098039215686, 0.6549019607843137)

Python (full palette)

# Sckolnick's Bright Contrast 5 colors

Source: https://msk678.github.io/Farbenblind.html#five-colors-bright-contrasts

Has only 5 colors, but a high contrast between them. Is a subset of the Okabe-Ito palette from above.

Hex RGB-Tuple
#d55e00 (0.8352941176470589, 0.3686274509803922, 0.0)
#cc79a7 (0.8, 0.4745098039215686, 0.6549019607843137)
#0072b2 (0.0, 0.4470588235294118, 0.6980392156862745)
#f0e442 (0.9411764705882353, 0.8941176470588236, 0.25882352941176473)
#009e73 (0.0, 0.6196078431372549, 0.45098039215686275)

Python (full palette)

# Krzywinski Palette 15 colors

Source: https://mk.bcgsc.ca/biovis2012/krzywinski-visualizing-biological-data.pdf

This palette is quite large with 15 colors, but individual colors are not as nicely distinguishable as with other palettes that have fewer colors. Only use this if you really need 15 colors, and be prepared that there might be ambiguity (e.g., between the first two colors).

Hex RGB-Tuple
#000000 (0.0, 0.0, 0.0)
#004949 (0.0, 0.28627450980392155, 0.28627450980392155)
#009292 (0.0, 0.5725490196078431, 0.5725490196078431)
#ff6db6 (1.0, 0.42745098039215684, 0.7137254901960784)
#ffb6db (1.0, 0.7137254901960784, 0.8588235294117647)
#490092 (0.28627450980392155, 0.0, 0.5725490196078431)
#006ddb (0.0, 0.42745098039215684, 0.8588235294117647)
#b66dff (0.7137254901960784, 0.42745098039215684, 1.0)
#6db6ff (0.42745098039215684, 0.7137254901960784, 1.0)
#b6dbff (0.7137254901960784, 0.8588235294117647, 1.0)
#920000 (0.5725490196078431, 0.0, 0.0)
#924900 (0.5725490196078431, 0.28627450980392155, 0.0)
#db6d00 (0.8588235294117647, 0.42745098039215684, 0.0)
#24ff24 (0.1411764705882353, 1.0, 0.1411764705882353)
#ffff6d (1.0, 1.0, 0.42745098039215684)

Python (full palette)