Simple algorithm and color space to generate diverse skin tones
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Hello HN!I found that picking out plausible but diverse skin tones for my digital art and game development projects was kind of difficult, and I got curious about if there was a way to define a color space that made it easy.I've built a color picker and procedural generation algorithm based on the space as well as a bunch of other fun js features and demos throughout the page that use the equations. If you find it interesting, I have lots of explanations of how I built it and what properties the space has.The methodology might be a bit shaky, but hopefully the result is as helpful for others as I have found it! There's lots of room for improvements (see the Future Work section), but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
HN · launched Aug 4, 2026 · 627 upvotes (top 1%) · 0 views
Niche: color palette generator software · 46 launches, 5 in the last 7 days · Explore this niche →
Category and tags
- Horizontal
- Dev tools
- Developer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Visit website ↗ Source listing ↗
More like this: all 46 launches in color palette generator software →
Could you build this?
Yes The mathematics and procedural generation algorithms for color spaces are fully self-contained formulas and simple client-side JavaScript/Python scripts.
Discussion
20 comments analyzed.
Concerns raised: Missing gamma correction in XYZ to RGB conversion, Training data may need to be refit if gamma-encoded, Skin tone variations not well represented across darker skin tones, Cannot express certain skin characteristics like redhead translucency, B channel differences across darker colored people not well captured
Feature requests: Drop-down list of ethnicities with parameter space guard rails, Better representation of redhead and translucent skin tones, Improved luminosity options for brown skin colors
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 329 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #3 of 330 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 279 days after the earliest competitor.
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