📖 Palette Manager — Documentation

Version: Free v1.0 · Lite v1.0 · Pro v1.0  |  Blender 4.0+ and 5.1  |  By NovaStrikes

📋 Table of Contents

1. Installation
2. Where to Find the Addon
3. Getting Started
4. Working with Palettes
5. Working with Colors
6. Applying Colors to Objects
7. JSON Export & Import
8. Built-in Palette Library
9. Pro Features
10. Troubleshooting

1. 📦 Installation

1. Download the .zip for your tier (Free / Lite / Pro)
2. Open Blender
3. Go to Edit → Preferences → Add-ons
4. Click Install (top right)
5. Select your downloaded .zip
6. Tick the checkbox next to "Palette Manager" to enable it
7. Done — no restart needed

Compatibility

2. 🔍 Where to Find the Addon

Palette Manager lives in the Material Properties tab — the ball icon in the Properties panel on the right side of Blender.

1. Select any mesh object in your scene
2. Click the material ball icon in the Properties panel
3. Add a material if needed (+ New)
4. Scroll down — the Palette Manager panels will appear

3. 🚀 Getting Started — First 60 Seconds

1. Select the default cube (or any mesh)
2. Go to Properties → Material tab → click + New
3. Scroll down to the Palette Manager section
4. Click + in the Palettes panel → new palette appears
5. Click + in the Colors panel → new color slot appears
6. Click the color swatch → pick any color
7. Click Apply to Object → cube changes color instantly ✅

4. 🎨 Working with Palettes

5. 🖌️ Working with Colors

6. 🖱️ Applying Colors to Objects

Single Object

1. Select the color you want in the Colors panel
2. Select your mesh object in the viewport
3. Click Apply to Object → Base Color updates instantly

Batch Apply Pro

1. Select multiple objects in the viewport (Shift+Click or A)
2. Select the color you want
3. Click Batch Apply to Selected → all objects update at once

7. 💾 JSON Export & Import Lite / Pro

Export a Palette

1. Select the palette you want to export
2. Go to the Palette Files section in the Tools panel
3. Click Export Palette as .json → choose a save location → click Export

Import a Palette

1. Open any Blender project
2. Go to Material tab → Palette Manager → Palette Files
3. Click Import Palette from .json → select your file → click Import ✅

8. 📚 Built-in Palette Library Lite / Pro

Lite: 50 palettes across 8 categories.
Pro: 250 palettes across 10 categories.

How to Use

1. Scroll to the Built-in Library panel in the Material tab
2. Use the Category dropdown to filter by type
3. Click Preview to see all colors with names and HEX codes
4. Click Load to add the palette to your active stack

Categories

9. 💜 Pro Features Pro Only

🖼️ Extract Colors from Image

1. Go to Tools → Pro Tools → Image Sampling
2. Click Extract Colors from Image
3. Select any image (JPG, PNG, etc.)
4. Dominant colors are extracted into a new palette automatically

🎲 Random Palette Generator

1. Go to Tools → Pro Tools → Generators
2. Click Random Palette Generator
3. Choose a mode: Analogous, Triadic, Complementary, Split-Complementary, or Synthwave
4. A harmonious palette generates instantly

🔗 Import from Coolors.co URL

1. Find a palette on coolors.co and copy the URL
2. Go to Tools → Pro Tools → Generators → Import from Coolors.co
3. Paste the URL → click Import → colors load as a new palette

🔀 Sort Colors

Select any palette → Palette Tools → Sort Colors → choose Hue, Brightness, or Saturation.

📋 Copy HEX to Clipboard

Select any color → click Copy next to the HEX code. Paste into CSS, Figma, or client docs.

10. 🔧 Troubleshooting

🤖 AI Assistance Disclosure: This addon was developed with the assistance of Claude AI (Anthropic). AI helped architect the project across 4 separate files (__init__.py, properties.py, operators.py, panels.py), implement the color preview popup system, and assist with iterative bug fixing. All features were manually tested and verified by the developer before release.

💡 Created with ❤️ by NovaStrikes