PNG Color Masks & Retro Palette Lab
Select precise hue, saturation and lightness ranges, make transparent cutouts, inspect selection overlays and remap artwork to custom palettes of up to 256 colors.
1. Open an image
PNG, JPG or WebP · up to 20 MiB, 8 million pixels. Drop one file anywhere in the workspace.
No image loaded.
2. Choose the operation
Preview starts from the current working image. Keep an edit to chain operations. Original upload remains available with Reset.
Choose an image or try the example.
Your image will appear here.
Preview an operation to compare.
Pixel operations work with browser-decoded 8-bit RGBA. They can discard source metadata, color profiles or higher bit depth. PNG compression compares decoded pixels, not byte-identical files. Animated images are rejected here; use animation tools instead.
Using PNG Color Masks & Retro Palette Lab
Select colors with precise HSL ranges, make masks or transparent cutouts and convert artwork to custom RGB palettes of up to 256 colors.
- Open a still image or try the example. Choose Advanced HSL selection or Custom palette.
- Use a ready preset, then tune hue, saturation and lightness. Preview a mask, cutout or magenta overlay; the selected-pixel count helps check coverage.
- Keep a cutout to chain edits, or download the result. Save settings to repeat the selection on another image.
Example
Choose Reds to select hues spanning 330° to 30°. Raise saturation to exclude gray pixels. Choose Grays and use Transparent cutout to isolate neutral details. Choose Custom palette and RGB cube 216 to map colors to a web-safe palette.
Questions & answers
Are my images uploaded for processing?
Image operations run in your browser. The website also uses ads and analytics as explained in its privacy policy.
Does this preserve every property of the original PNG?
Pixel edits use browser-decoded 8-bit RGBA and re-encode the result. Original metadata, higher bit depth and some color-profile details may be lost. The inspector’s metadata-only edits preserve image chunks.
Can I edit animated PNGs here?
These workbenches handle still images. Animated PNGs and animated WebP files are rejected to avoid silently dropping frames.
How large can my image be?
Inputs are limited to 20 MiB and 8 million pixels. Some text pixel exports have a smaller 250,000-pixel limit to keep the interface responsive.
What does exact pixel compression mean?
It verifies every decoded 8-bit RGBA pixel after re-encoding. It is not a claim that metadata, 16-bit samples or source color management are unchanged.
How does a hue range wrap across red?
Hue is circular. A range from 330 to 30 selects hues near red across the 360/0 boundary. The full 0–360 range selects every hue. Gray pixels have hue zero; use saturation limits to exclude or isolate them.
What do the selection outputs mean?
Mask exports white for selected visible pixels and black elsewhere. Cutout keeps original RGB and alpha for selected pixels and makes the rest transparent. Overlay tints selected pixels magenta and is for inspecting the selection, not an untouched image.
How are custom palettes applied?
Enter 2–256 six-digit hex colors separated by spaces, commas or semicolons. Each RGB pixel maps to the closest palette color by Euclidean RGB distance; existing alpha is preserved. This is a lossy mapping, not a perceptual or print color conversion.
Related tools
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Images & DesignAutomatic Image Palette ExtractorFind dominant colors in an image automatically, merge similar shades, inspect text contrast and export reusable CSS, JSON or a PNG palette.- Images & DesignPNG Pixel Channels & Data ConverterExtract RGB channels, swap channel order and export decoded pixel bytes as RGB, BGR, RGBA or BGRA with a dimension manifest.
- Images & DesignPNG Transparency & Alpha WorkbenchRemove a selected color, edit alpha, extract masks, soften edges and flatten transparent images with original-size previews and local PNG exports.
- Images & DesignPNG Compressor & Palette LabOptimize decoded PNG pixels without color loss, or reduce colors deliberately. Compare actual size, changed pixels and color error before downloading.
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