Hextractor is a free After Effects script by YB Motion that extracts colors from text, layers, or images, creating palettes, guide layers, and swatches for easy reuse across projects.
Developed by YB Motion.
About Hextractor
Hextractor is a color‑extraction script for Adobe After Effects, developed by YB Motion and distributed via aescripts. It reads hexadecimal color values from pasted text such as brand guides or client emails, as well as from selected layers and images, then generates reusable palettes, guide layers, and color mosaics. Saved palettes can be switched quickly and shared with team members, aiding workflows that involve multiple clients or projects. The tool is compatible with After Effects 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and CC 2019. Version 1.2.4 was last updated on December 2, 2025. A demo video is available on YouTube.
Features
- Paste a full brand guide or client email containing hex codes and grab all the colors at once
- Build a color palette from selected layers or even images
- Switch between saved color schemes quickly
- Share saved color palettes with your team
- Generate guide layers that include all extracted colors, including near-white and near-black tones
- Create color mosaics from extracted colors
Best for
After Effects artists who need to extract brand or project colors from text, layers, or images and manage reusable palettes across multiple projects.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hextractor work with After Effects 2026?
Yes. Hextractor is listed as compatible with After Effects 2026, along with several earlier releases, so it can be used in that version.
Can Hextractor grab hex codes from a pasted brand guide or client email?
Yes. The script can read hex codes directly from pasted text such as a brand guide or client email, extracting all colors found in the text.
Is Hextractor free to download from aescripts?
The catalog lists Hextractor as free, meaning no purchase is required to download it, though licensing terms may change and should be verified on the developer’s page.
Can Hextractor build a palette from images and layers?
Yes. Hextractor can generate a color palette from selected layers or from imported images, allowing you to create palettes from visual assets as well as typed hex codes.
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