Three ways to pick
Photo library: import a reference, tap any pixel. Camera: point and read in real time. Color wheel: drag freely to explore color space.
Color picking and image processing all run on-device. Originals never leave your phone.
ThiColor
识色板
Translate the colors around you into the language of paint.
An iOS tool for painters, illustrators, and art students.
Pick any color from a photo, camera, or color wheel and get a pigment recipe you can mix on your palette.
Core features
From a single color to a mixed paint, in seconds
ThiColor translates any color you see — the glaze on a museum oil painting, the faded wall of a café, a sunset in your camera roll — into a concrete pigment ratio you can recreate on canvas.
Real color science
Not a naive RGB blend. Built on the Kubelka-Munk pigment reflectance model with ΔE2000 color-difference matching to find the closest mixable combination.
Oil, acrylic, and gouache are modeled separately — their mixing behavior is fundamentally different.
Boards & saved recipes
Save recipes into your own "boards" organized by subject, medium, or project. Rename, archive, and reorder however you like.
All board data lives on your device. No backend, no sync unless you turn it on.
Paint Steps (Pro)
Upload a finished piece and get a step-by-step painting guide: underpainting, shadows, transitions, highlights — each step annotated with colors and brushwork notes.
Powered by an AI vision model so "watch how a master paints" becomes an executable workflow.
Signature palettes (Pro)
Preset palettes of Monet, Sargent, Hopper, and more. The solver constrains itself to the pigments those masters actually used so you can understand their color language.
"Mix the color you see using Monet's palette" — a practice exercise built into the tool.
Privacy by design
Use all local features without an account. Authentication is Sign in with Apple. Only Paint Steps sends your selected photo to our server, and it's deleted right after processing.
No third-party tracking SDKs. We don't sell data.
How it works
Three steps to a recipe you can mix on canvas
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1
Pick a color
Tap a pixel in a photo, aim the camera at an object, or drag freely on a color wheel. The app reads the precise RGB / Lab value and shows a magnified preview.
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2
Choose a medium
Switch between oil, acrylic, and gouache. Each uses a different pigment library and mixing model — titanium white in oil behaves nothing like zinc white in gouache.
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3
Get a recipe
Receive a weight-percentage pigment combination, the resulting ΔE color difference, and a mixed-preview swatch. Save the recipe to a board and pull it up next time.
Subscription
Start free, upgrade when you need more
All color picking and recipe solving is open to everyone, with 50 free picks per day. Subscribe for unlimited picks, the full pigment catalog, and the Paint Steps feature.
Free
$ 0
No account required
- 50 picks & recipes per day
- Oil / Acrylic / Gouache
- Board collections
- Local-first, privacy-respecting
Basic
$ 2.99 / mo
or $ 26.99 / year (~25% off)
- Unlimited picks & recipes
- Unlimited saved boards
- Full pigment catalog
- iCloud sync across devices
Pro
$ 4.99 / mo
or $ 44.99 / year (~25% off)
- Everything in Basic
- Paint Steps AI breakdowns
- Signature palettes (Monet, Sargent…)
- Priority access to new content
Subscriptions renew automatically. Cancel anytime in iPhone Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions, at least 24 hours before the renewal date. Full rules and refund policy in our Terms of Service.
About ThiColor
Why we built this
Mixing the exact color you see from a reference is something every painter runs into, over and over: my eye reads this color — how do I recreate it with the tubes I own?
The traditional answer is experience: keep mixing until your hand learns it. But experience is expensive — a tube of cobalt blue costs real money, and every misjudged squeeze gets wasted.
ThiColor translates "experience" into math. It uses well-established color science — the Kubelka-Munk pigment reflectance model and ΔE2000 color-difference metric — to solve for the closest mixable combination of pigments, modeled separately for each medium because titanium white in oil mixes nothing like zinc white in gouache.
Our goal: save you the trial-and-error so you can spend more attention on the painting itself.
FAQ
What you might be wondering
Does ThiColor need an internet connection?
Core color picking and recipe solving run entirely on-device — no connection required. Sign-in, subscription verification, and Paint Steps rely on Apple's and our servers. Everything else works in airplane mode.
Which pigment brands do you support?
The app ships with measured spectral data for major brands including Winsor & Newton, Liquitex, Holbein, Schmincke, and more. Subscribers get the full catalog; the free tier uses a curated starter selection.
How accurate are the recipes?
All recipes are based on published color-science algorithms (Kubelka-Munk + ΔE2000). Real-world outcome still depends on pigment batch, canvas, and lighting — treat the output as a starting point and mix a test swatch.
How do I cancel a subscription?
In iPhone Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions, find ThiColor and turn off "Auto-Renewal" — at least 24 hours before renewal. The paid period stays active until its end date. Deleting the app does NOT cancel the subscription.
Are my photos uploaded?
Only when you actively use Paint Steps. The selected photo is sent to our server to generate the breakdown, then deleted after processing. Color picking from your library or camera processes pixels locally — nothing is uploaded. See our Privacy Policy.
How do I delete my account?
In the app, open the "Mine" tab → tap your account avatar → scroll to the bottom of the Account page → tap "Delete account". This removes all account data on this device and on our server. Subscriptions remain tied to your Apple ID and can be restored after signing back in.
Contact
We'd love to hear from you
User support
Usage questions, bug reports, refund inquiries — replies on weekdays.
Business inquiries
Press, partnerships — please prefix the email subject with "Business".
Company
Beijing Shuishan Shiliu Technology Co., Ltd.
北京水山识流科技有限责任公司