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Color Unmixer

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See a color you like and wonder what two colors would mix together to make it? Pick the target — no need to already know one of the ingredients, unlike similar reverse-mix calculators — and get two candidate colors, with a live preview proving they mix (in the same OKLab model as Color Mixer) back to exactly that color, not an approximation.

How it works

  1. Pick the color you want to recreate
  2. Two candidate ingredient colors appear, adjustable by hue axis, spread, and mix ratio
  3. A verification preview mixes them back together to confirm it reproduces the target exactly

Frequently asked questions

Why isn't there just one correct answer?

Infinitely many color pairs can mix to the same result — gray can come from black+white, or from red+cyan, and so on. This tool lets you explore different valid combinations by adjusting the hue axis and spread.

Does mixing the two candidates really reproduce the target exactly?

Yes — they're constructed as mathematically symmetric points around the target in OKLab space (the same model as Color Mixer), so their weighted combination always equals the target exactly, not an approximation.

What if the candidates look like unusual, oversaturated colors?

If the target is very saturated or extreme in brightness, a large spread can push a candidate outside the range a screen can display — it gets clamped to the closest displayable color, and the verification preview will show a tiny difference in that case.

Do I need to already know one of the ingredient colors?

No — unlike similar reverse-mix calculators that require a known "fixed" color, this tool only needs the target.

#ColorUnmixer#WhatColorsMakeThisColor#ReverseColorMixer#DecomposeColorIntoTwoColors#FindColorsThatMixToAColor

Related tools

Color Mixer Color Mixer Color Shade Generator Color Shade Generator

From the blog

You saw a pretty color. Most "reverse color mixer" tools still make you know an ingredient first.
color-css

You saw a pretty color. Most "reverse color mixer" tools still make you know an ingredient first.

We checked a real color reverse calculator — it solves for a missing color, but only if you already know the other one. That's backwards from how curiosity actually works.

2026-08-30

Update history

  • 2026-08-30 Added: a cover image (one drop splitting via a forking arrow into two differently-hued drops, with a checkmark confirming exact recombination and a magnifying glass for curiosity) — used as the card thumbnail, social share image, and blog title image.
  • 2026-08-30 Launched: live color unmixer (no button) — the reverse of Color Mixer. Generates two candidate ingredient colors from a single target color, with an exact-reconstruction guarantee (verified: mixing the candidates back at the same ratio always reproduces the target precisely). No known ingredient color required, unlike similar reverse-mix calculators. Entirely client-side.