Make a mood board

To make a mood board, collect 4 to 9 images that capture the feel you want, arrange them in a grid with the free collage maker, and download one image you can share. Then drop that image into the free color picker from image to pull out its main colours as HEX codes. You end up with a board and a matching palette in about ten minutes, free and without uploading anything.

A mood board is a single page of pictures that shows a direction instead of describing it: for a brand, a room, a wedding, an outfit, a birthday party or a design project. It's the fastest way to get a designer, a decorator, a tailor or a friend on the same page.

Step 1: Collect images with a purpose

Pick images that each say something about the mood, not just pictures you like. A good board usually has a mix:

• One or two hero images that sum up the feeling at a glance.
• Textures and materials: linen, brass, terrazzo, handloom, wood grain.
• Colour moments: a sunset, a flower, a painted wall that has the colours you want.
• Details: a font on a shop sign, a light fitting, a tablescape, a fabric border.

Save your own photos, screenshots, or images you have permission to use. A board for your own planning can borrow from anywhere, but if you'll publish it, use only images you have the rights to share.

Fewer is better. Nine images of the same beige living room say less than five carefully chosen ones.

Step 2: Choose a layout

Open the free collage maker, click Choose photos and select your images (up to nine). Then pick a Layout:

Images	Layout	Good for
4	One big, three small	One hero image with supporting details
4	2 × 2 grid	Four equal ideas, side by side
5	Mosaic of five	Two large images on top, three details below
6	3 × 2 grid	A balanced, magazine-style board
9	3 × 3 grid	Lots of textures and details

With 7 or 8 images the tool uses the 3 × 3 grid and leaves the spare squares empty, so add or drop an image to fill it. iPhone HEIC photos aren't accepted, so convert them to JPG first.

The first photo in the list goes in the first space, which is the big one in One big, three small. Use ↑ and ↓ under Photos, in order to move your hero image to the top.

Step 3: Set the look

• Shape: Landscape 16:9 suits a presentation slide; Square or Portrait 4:5 suit Instagram, Pinterest-style sharing or a phone screen; Story 9:16 works for a Status or Story.
• Spacing: a gap of 16-40px keeps images distinct; 0px gives a seamless, dense board.
• Rounded corners: a little rounding (16-40px) feels softer and more editorial.
• Background: the colour of the gaps. White or off-white is neutral; you can also type a HEX code from your palette (for example #F4EDE4) once you have one.

Every image fills its space without stretching and is trimmed at the edges if the shape differs, so check the preview to see that the important part of each image is visible. If something is cut off, crop it first with the free image cropper.

Under Save as, choose JPG, click Make collage, and Download collage.

Step 4: Pull the palette from your board

This is the step that turns a pretty collage into something useful.

1. Open the free color picker from image and choose your mood board image.
2. Move the Colours in the palette slider. Five or six colours is a good start; the tool shows each with its HEX code and how much of the image it covers.
3. If a small accent colour you care about isn't shown (a flash of marigold, a brass detail), click directly on it in the image. You get its HEX and RGB codes and the nearest colour name.
4. Click Copy all HEX codes, Copy as CSS variables, or Download JSON to keep the palette.

The dominant colours tend to be the backgrounds and big surfaces; the accents are often the colours you pick by clicking. A typical palette mixes two or three base colours with one or two accents. Our guide on getting a HEX colour from an image explains picking a single colour by clicking.

Step 5: Refine it

With the palette in hand, look at the board again:

• Does one image fight the rest? Swap it out and make the collage again.
• Need more colour options that go with your palette? The free color palette generator can build harmonies from one of your HEX codes.
• Want to understand why some combinations work? Read color theory basics.

Mood board ideas

• Brand or small business: logo inspiration, packaging, fonts, colours. Hand the palette to your designer.
• Home makeover: paint, flooring, furniture, lighting.
• Wedding or event: décor, outfits, flowers, invitation style. Our Indian wedding colour palettes can spark ideas.
• Outfit or tailoring brief: fabric, embroidery and silhouette references for your tailor.
• School or college project: a visual theme for a presentation.

Build your board

Open the free collage maker, add 4 to 9 images, choose a layout and download your mood board, then pull its colours with the color picker. Both tools are free and work on your device, so nothing is uploaded.