Color Names and Shades Poster

This one started as something we made for ourselves. Naming a color is harder than it sounds. “Blueish” doesn't cut it when you need teal rather than cerulean rather than slate. So we laid out hundreds of named shades, one hue family per row, until the set covered the spectrum end to end.

Writers adopted it first, which surprised us. Describing a room, a dress, or the sea at dusk gets easier when the right name is sitting right in front of you. Painters and designers followed, using it to put real words on palette choices. It hangs nicely too, which we'll admit is not nothing.

What's on the poster

✓Hundreds of shade names with an accurate swatch beside each
✓Twelve hue-family rows, warm through cool to neutral
✓Includes the awkward near-neutrals most charts skip
✓Readable at arm's length, colorful enough for the wall
✓Searchable companion: 7,000+ names in our free Color Names browser

Perfect for

Writers & editors Illustrators Interior decorators Vocabulary-building classrooms

About the print edition

·Printed on 120# satin stock with a low-glare finish
·Color accuracy checked before every print run
·Standard dimensions that fit ready-made frames

Printed copies are on pause while we sort out a new print partner. Everything on these charts is free to explore in the tools and articles on this site.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many colors does the poster show?

Several hundred named shades across twelve rows. It stops well short of overwhelming, since the goal is quick recall rather than an exhaustive index. For the deep end, the Color Names tool here on the site holds thousands more, searchable by name or hex.

Why call it a color thesaurus?

That's how people actually use it. You know roughly the color you mean, then shop around the row for the word that says it best. Same trick a thesaurus uses, except this one comes with swatches attached.

Is there a digital version?

Sort of. The Color Names browser on graf1x.com is searchable, filterable by hue family, and covers far more names than any poster realistically could.