Picking from Photos

Extract colours from images in your photo library using the interactive colour picker.

Opening the Image Picker

Tap the From Photo button (purple) on the home screen. Your device will ask for photo library permission if not already granted.

iOS The native Photos picker launches
Android Your device's gallery app opens

Select any image and it will load into the interactive viewer.

Interface Overview

The image picker screen contains several key areas:

Selected Colour Preview (top) — Shows the currently picked colour with its hex code and RGB values
Extracted Colours Strip — A horizontal row of colour swatches you've collected from the image
Instructions Banner — Cyan bar with usage hints: "Tap or drag to select · Pinch to zoom · + to add"
Image Viewer — The main interactive area for your image
Bottom Actions — Buttons for extracting dominant colours, adding colours, and finding matches

Picking Colours Manually

Tap to Pick

Simply tap anywhere on the image to select the colour at that point. The Selected Colour Preview updates immediately with the hex and RGB values.

Drag to Explore

Touch and drag your finger across the image to explore colours continuously. A magnifier loupe (120×120px circular window) appears showing a zoomed-in view of the area under your finger, with a crosshair and the current hex code displayed.

Zoom and Pan

Use pinch-to-zoom (two fingers) to zoom into the image (up to 5× magnification). While zoomed, drag with two fingers to pan around the image.

💡 Tip

Zoom in on areas with subtle colour variations to pick more precisely. The colour sampling uses a 5×5 pixel average to reduce noise.

Adding Colours to Your Selection

Once you've picked a colour you like:

Tap the + Add Colour button (orange, bottom) or the + circle button next to the colour preview
The colour is added to the Extracted Colours Strip with a numbered badge
Continue picking and adding more colours

To remove a colour from your selection, long-press its swatch in the Extracted Colours Strip.

To switch your active selection, tap any swatch in the strip.

Extracting Dominant Colours

Tap the Extract Dominant Colours button (purple outline) to automatically identify the most prominent colours in the image.

Mixura uses a k-means clustering algorithm that:

Samples approximately 10,000 pixels from the image
Identifies up to 10 distinct colour clusters
Filters out very dark and very light pixels
Sorts results by vibrancy (saturation × brightness)
Removes duplicates that are too similar (within RGB ±10)

The extracted colours appear in the Extracted Colours Strip, ready for matching or saving.

ℹ Processing

Colour extraction runs in the background and won't freeze the app. You'll see a brief loading indicator while it processes.

Saving as a Palette

Once you have colours in your Extracted Colours Strip, tap the Save button in the top-right corner (shows the count of colours).

A dialog appears with a pre-filled name: "Image Palette DD/MM"
Edit the name if desired
Tap Save to create the palette with all extracted colours

Finding Paint Matches

Tap the Find Matches button (cyan, bottom or top-right) to navigate to the Match Results screen for the currently selected colour. This works the same as a camera scan — you'll see ranked paint matches from your selected brands.

Free Tier Limitations

Free: Maximum 3 palettes can be saved
Pro: Unlimited palette creation

Colour extraction and manual picking are available to all users regardless of subscription status.