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Work With Colors Using pastel

Convert between color formats, generate palettes and check contrast.

macOSTerminalimageconvertLow risk
Run pastel color red to display the color's hex, RGB and HSL values.

01Command

Command
$ pastel color red

02What it does

pastel parses colors in many notations and can convert, mix, sort, pick and check contrast for accessibility. Use pastel pick to grab a color from the screen, which is handy when building a theme.

03Risk

RiskLow risk
CompatibilitymacOS with Homebrew installed
!Warning: Color perception and terminal rendering vary; always verify contrast ratios numerically rather than by eye.

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • Homebrew formula: pastel
    Homebrew · vendor-doc · 2026-09-20
    Evidence: Command-line tool to generate, analyze, convert and manipulate colors. Packages pastel, a command-line tool to work with color representations.

Last verified: 2026-09-22 · Category: Developer

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