---
id: colorthief
version: "0.2.1"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# colorthief — A module for grabbing the color palette from an image.

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 444.7K/mo

## What it is and what it does

ColorThief is a Python module that analyzes images to extract their dominant color and generate color palettes. It accepts either a file path or a file-like object and uses the median cut algorithm to cluster similar colors, returning RGB tuples. The module offers a quality parameter to trade off between accuracy and speed—higher quality values produce more precise results but take longer to compute.

The package has no external runtime dependencies and installs as a pure Python wheel. However, it is no longer actively maintained; the last release was in 2017 and development has effectively stopped. It remains functional for straightforward color extraction tasks but receives no updates for compatibility with newer Python versions or image formats.

Use it for:

- Extract the dominant color from a product photo for UI theming or design automation
- Generate a representative color palette from artwork or photographs for color scheme inspiration
- Analyze images in batch to build a dataset of color distributions for machine learning or analytics
- Build image thumbnails with a matching background color derived from the source image
- Create color-based image search or filtering systems by comparing extracted palettes

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Extracts dominant colors and color palettes from images using the median cut algorithm.

Yes, if you need basic color extraction and can tolerate an unmaintained package. The module is lightweight, dependency-free, and works for its stated purpose. Install only if the 0.2.1 release meets your requirements without needing updates—do not rely on it for production systems requiring ongoing support or Python 3.x compatibility guarantees.

## Install

pip install colorthief
uv add colorthief
poetry add colorthief

## Installing colorthief

Before you install: Installs cleanly with no runtime dependencies. However, the package is abandoned—last release was 2017-02-09 and last commit 2022-10-31, with no active maintenance. Use only if the existing functionality meets your needs without requiring updates.

License in practice: BSD license is permissive, allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. You may use, modify, and distribute the package freely provided you retain the license notice.

Quickstart:

from colorthief import ColorThief

color_thief = ColorThief('/path/to/imagefile')
dominant_color = color_thief.get_color(quality=1)
palette = color_thief.get_palette(color_count=6)

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package works reliably with modern image formats and current Python versions beyond 2.7
- Performance characteristics on large images or batch processing scenarios
- Compatibility with Python 3.x versions (classifiers only list 2.6 and 2.7)

## Package facts

- License: BSD (permissive)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 444.7K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

extract dominant color from image, image color palette extraction, get colors from image, color analysis from photos, image color detection, median cut color clustering, color thief python, image-processing, color-analysis, unmaintained

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