How to get a hex code from a photo on iPhone

A practical guide from the makers of Color Picker from photos

A hex code is the six-character value (like #669FA5) that identifies a color exactly. If you have a photo containing a color you want to reuse — for a website, a slide deck, a design file or a craft project — you need that code, not a guess. Here are three ways to get it on iPhone, from slowest to fastest.

Method 1: The built-in Markup eyedropper

iOS has a hidden option inside the Markup tool. Open the photo in the Photos app, tap Edit, then the Markup pen icon. Tap the color dot, choose the eyedropper, and drag it over the pixel you want. Switching to the Sliders tab shows a hex value.

It works, but it has real limits: it samples exactly one pixel (photos are noisy, so two neighboring pixels can differ a lot), it takes about six taps to reach, and there is no palette view, no copy button in some versions, and no way to save what you found.

Method 2: Desktop tools

You can transfer the photo to a computer and use a browser-based picker or a design app's eyedropper. Accurate, but it means leaving your phone, and it still samples single pixels rather than telling you the actual dominant colors of the image.

Method 3: Extract the whole palette at once

The fastest route on iPhone is a dedicated app. With Color Picker from photos:

1. Open the app and choose a photo from your library, or take one with the camera.
2. The app analyzes the image on your device and extracts its distinct colors automatically — up to 12, adjustable with a slider.
3. Tap any swatch. You see its HEX, RGB and HSL values, each with a copy button.
4. Tap the copy icon next to the HEX value. It's on your clipboard, ready to paste anywhere.

Because the app averages over regions of the image instead of reading one pixel, the hex code you get represents the color you actually see, not sensor noise. Each color also shows a coverage percentage, so you know whether it's the dominant color or an accent.

Which method should you use?

If you need one rough value once, Markup does the job. If you work with color regularly — or you want the palette, shades, and a saved history rather than a single pixel — a dedicated extractor is faster every time after the first.