Home › Paint mixing tool
The paint mixing tool that works with the paints you own
PaintMixLab is a paint mixing calculator and colour matching app for oil painters. Photograph a colour, choose your paint set, and get the mixing ratio in parts you can measure on the palette. Free for 3 days on iPhone, then $3.99 a month.
What the paint mixing calculator gives you
Most colour mixing charts tell you that blue and yellow make green. A painter standing at the easel needs more than that: which blue, which yellow, and how much of each from the tubes actually on the palette. That is what PaintMixLab answers.
Target colour #8A9A6B
Predicted mix #8B9B6C
Example: a muted sage from a photo, matched with 4 parts Titanium White, 2 parts Yellow Ochre, 1 part Ultramarine Blue, 1 part Ivory Black (Winton set). Match rating: very close.
Recipes in parts, not percentages
Two or three tubes in whole-number ratios such as 4 : 2 : 1, so you can measure with a palette knife, a syringe or a teaspoon.
Your actual paint set
Choose Gamblin 1980, Winton, Magicfly, Arteza, Mont Marte, Castle Arts, Ohuhu, Bob Ross or U.S. Art Supply, or tick the tubes you own.
A swatch and a match rating
See the target next to the predicted mix and a plain-language rating before you squeeze a tube.
Photo, sample or hex code
Tap a pixel, average an area with the loupe, or type a hex value from a reference image.
Value studies and limits
Avoid black, limit to two tubes, or switch to a black-and-white value recipe for underpainting.
Calibrated against paint
Recipes are fitted to swatches painted with the real tubes, not guessed from screen colour, and keep improving.
How the paint mixing tool works
1
Take a photo
Shoot your subject or open a reference. Pinch to zoom in on the part you want.
2
Select a colour
Tap a spot or sample an area. The loupe shows exactly which pixels you are matching.
3
Mix the recipe
Get the tubes and parts for your own paint set and check the swatch before you mix.
4
Paint!
Lay it down, and save the swatch so you can mix the same colour again tomorrow.
Works with these oil paint sets
Each set is calibrated separately because tinting strength differs between brands. A recipe for Winton is not the recipe for Gamblin, and the tool knows the difference.
Gamblin 1980 Winsor & Newton Winton Magicfly 40 Arteza Mont Marte Castle Arts Ohuhu Bob Ross U.S. Art Supply Custom palette from your own tubes
Paint mixing tool vs. colour mixing chart
A printed colour mixing chart is fixed: one brand, one set of pairs, no quantities. A paint mixing tool starts from the colour in front of you and works backwards to your tubes, with amounts. Use the chart to learn how pigments behave; use the tool when you need a specific colour now.
| Mixing chart | PaintMixLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Two tubes you pick | Any colour you see or photograph |
| Quantities | None | Parts, e.g. 4 : 2 : 1 |
| Your paint set | One brand per chart | Ten sets plus custom tubes |
| Checks the result | No | Swatch and match rating |
| Remembers mixes | No | Saved per photo, synced to your account |
Paint mixing tool questions
Is there a free paint mixing calculator?
PaintMixLab is free to download with a 3-day free trial, then $3.99 a month. Everything — every paint set, photo matching, sections and saved projects — is included in the trial.
Does the paint mixing tool work for acrylics or watercolour?
The calibrations are for oil paint sets. Acrylic ranges share many pigments, so recipes are often a useful starting point, but acrylics shift darker as they dry and the tool does not model that yet.
How accurate are the mixing recipes?
Recipes are fitted against swatches painted with the real tubes and rated for closeness before you mix. Tube batches, lighting and camera colour casts all add error, so treat the recipe as a measured starting point and adjust by eye — usually with a touch more white.
Is PaintMixLab available on Android or desktop?
It is an iPhone and iPad app today. A web version for desktop and Android is planned; subscribers will be able to sign in with the same account.
Can I use it with a custom set of tubes?
Yes. Tick the tubes you own across brands and the tool only recommends mixes from those paints.
Try the paint mixing tool free for 3 days
Download PaintMixLab on the App Store, pick your paint set, and photograph the first colour you want to mix.