Creating Palettes

There are several ways to create a new palette:

  • Add a palette button. When no palette is loaded, click the “Add a palette” button in the floating toolbar. Petals generates a 6-color palette with a bloom animation.
  • Create new button. Click the plus icon in the top bar to create a new palette without closing the current one. The previous palette is saved automatically.
  • Import. Create a palette from a link, text, swatch file, or image. See Importing and Exporting.
  • Extract from current work. Use the More menu to extract colors from the current comp, document, or selection (see Functions Reference).

New palettes are named automatically using the prefix configured in settings (default: “Palette 1”, “Palette 2”, etc.). Rename any palette by clicking its name in the top bar.

Project vs Library

Palettes live in one of two scopes:

Project palettes are saved with the current After Effects or Illustrator project file. They can be linked to layers in After Effects or artwork in Illustrator. When you switch projects, you see that project’s palettes.

Library palettes are stored globally on your machine and appear in every project. They serve as templates. To use a library palette, click it in the preset viewer to copy it into the current project.

Preset Viewer

Open the preset viewer by clicking the folder icon in the top bar. It shows two sections:

Project Section

Lists all palettes saved in the current project, newest first. Each card shows a color bar and the palette name. A link icon appears next to palettes that are actively linked in the current comp or document.

Hover a card to reveal actions: rename, save to library, export, duplicate, and delete.

Library Section

Lists all global library palettes. Click a library palette to copy it into the project and load it immediately.

Hover a card to reveal actions: add to project, rename, export, duplicate, and delete.

Auto-Loading

When you open Petals, it automatically loads the most recently used palette that has active links in the current comp or document. If no linked palette is found, it loads the most recently used project palette. If no project palettes exist, Petals starts in the empty state.