How do I pull the colors from my best-performing Instagram post so I can reuse them in future posts?

Start with the right file

The best source is the image as it sits in your phone gallery or design folder, before you uploaded it. Instagram recompresses images when you post, and a screenshot adds another round of compression plus bits of the app's interface. If a screenshot is all you have, crop it first so only the photo remains, without the icons, captions and the app's white background, because all of those would count toward the colors.

How many colors to take

• Two or three: only the overall mood, and a distinctive color may merge with its neighbor.
• 4 to 6: the practical number for a post style, with a background, a main color, a text color and one or two accents.
• More than 8: useful for analysis, but you will not actually use that many in your designs.

Example: a coffee product post

A strong post showing a brown coffee bag on an ivory background with a green leaf and a gold touch. With five colors the palette came out as #C49A6C at 40%, #F2F0EC at 25%, #0F6B5F at 20%, #282828 at 10% and #E4B04A at 5%. The 'Copy all HEX values' button gives you the list in that order, one code per line, ready to paste into a note on your phone:

#C49A6C #F2F0EC #0F6B5F #282828 #E4B04A

Now you have a recipe: ivory for backgrounds, brown for large areas, green for headings, dark grey for text and gold for touches such as a price or the word 'new'.

The steps

1. Open the original image in the Image palette extractor extractor.
2. Set the number of colors between 4 and 6, and leave the sample size at 200.
3. If the background is pure white and you do not want it in the palette, turn on 'Ignore near-white'.
4. Copy all the HEX values, and download the PNG strip as well. The strip is a small image you keep in your gallery and open while you design.
5. In whatever design app you use, save these codes as a custom palette if it supports one.

Limits to keep in mind

Palette colors are averages of groups of similar colors, so they may not match any literal pixel, but they capture the color mood well. The tool does not suggest matching colors or judge whether the palette is 'nice'; it only reflects what is in your successful image, which is exactly what you want here.