A minimal JSON-based file format for defining color palettes

It's designed for interoperability, clarity, and ease of use.

Feedback wanted on the specification

Favorites.color-palette:

{
	"name": "Favorites",
	"colors": [
		{
			"name": "Hot Pink",
			"components": [1, 0.1274, 0.418]
		},
		{
			"components": [0.592, 0.278, 0.996, 0.9]
		}
	]
}

• Specification
• FAQ

• JavaScript
• Swift
• Rust

• Simple Color Palette - macOS and iOS app to view, create, and edit palettes in this format.
• System Color Picker - macOS app that supports importing palettes in this format.

• ColorPaletteCodable - A color palette converter which supports this format.

Existing color palette formats have limitations:

• Adobe Color (.aco, .ase) - Proprietary binary formats tied to Adobe products
• Sketch (.sketchpalette) - JSON-based but specific to Sketch app
• NSColorList (.clr) - macOS only, binary format
• GIMP/Inkscape (.gpl) - Text-based but limited to 8-bit RGB values

This format addresses these issues by being:

1. Open - JSON-based, human-readable, and freely implementable
2. Modern - Supports HDR colors through extended linear sRGB
3. Simple - Minimal structure with just the essential fields
4. Portable - Not tied to any specific app or platform
5. Precise - Uses raw linear values to avoid gamma ambiguity