ColorArchive

Shipped a milestone this week: ColorArchive (my curated color library, 5,446 colors) passed Figma's review and is live on Figma Community.

Why a plugin: distribution. The site gets ~100–250 PV/day from SEO, but designers live inside Figma. A Community listing is a discovery surface where the product demos itself — every install is a designer trying the library inside their actual workflow.

The launch version does: browse/search all 5,446 colors (48 hues × 14 lightness × 8 chroma + neutrals) · apply fills · create paint styles · generate 30-style brand scales from any fill · WCAG contrast badges for any selected layer · CSS/Tailwind/JSON export · works in FigJam too.

Build notes for anyone shipping a Figma plugin:

(1) The plugin UI iframe is a data: URL — localStorage always throws a SecurityError. One unguarded access killed our whole UI script and cost us a review cycle. Persist via figma.clientStorage on the main thread instead.

(2) Every code publish = a full re-review. Bundle your changes; listing text/images don't re-trigger review.

(3) Reviewers test FigJam even if your plugin is Design-first — gate editor-specific APIs (figma.createPaintStyle doesn't exist in FigJam).

Free plugin, Pro hook is palette sync via API key. UTM-tagged links so I can actually measure install → visit → signup → purchase in PostHog.

Plugin: https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1616829363158218051

Ask: if you use Figma, an install + honest review helps the Community ranking a lot 🙏

Hey IH! I just launched ColorArchive, a free color library built for designers and developers who are tired of noisy, cluttered color tools.

What it does:

• Browse 3,066 algorithmically generated colors organized by hue, lightness, and saturation

• Build custom palettes and extract colors from any image

• Generate brand color palettes with AI

• Export to CSS, Figma tokens, Tailwind config, SwiftUI, and more

• 290+ design guides and 170+ curated collections

Why I built it:

I kept running into the same problem — most color tools are either too flashy, too limited, or require signup before you can do anything useful. I wanted something calm and searchable where I could quickly find production-ready color values.

Tech stack: Next.js (App Router), Tailwind CSS 4, Vercel, DigitalOcean backend. All 3,066 colors are generated algorithmically from 36 hue roots × 14 lightness bands × 6 chroma levels.

The core product is completely free with no signup required. I'm exploring a Pro tier and one-time palette pack purchases for revenue.

Would love any feedback on the product or the approach. What color tools do you use in your workflow?