poline

Esoteric Color Palette Generator Micro-Lib

“poline” is an enigmatic color palette generator, that harnesses the mystical witchcraft of polar coordinates. Its methodology, defying conventional color science, is steeped in the esoteric knowledge of the early 20th century. This magical technology defies explanation, drawing lines between anchors to produce visually striking and otherworldly palettes. It is an indispensable tool for the modern generative sorcerer, and a delight for the eye.

Installation

“poline” is available as an npm package. Alternatively you can clone it on GitHub.

npm install poline

You can also use the unpkg CDN to include the library in your project. I recommend using the mjs version of the library. This will allow you to use the import syntax. But you can also use the umd version if you prefer to use the script tag.

<script type="module">
  import { Poline } from "https://unpkg.com/poline?module";
</script>

Getting Started

Begin your journey with poline by following this simple incantation:

// Import the magical construct
import { Poline } from "poline";

// Summon a new palette with default settings (random anchor colors)
const poline = new Poline();

// Behold the colors in HSL format
console.log(poline.colors);

// Or as CSS strings ready for your spells
console.log(poline.colorsCSS);

Summoning

The use of “Poline” begins with the invocation of its command, which can be performed with or without arguments. If called without, the tool will generate a mesmerizing palette featuring two randomly selected anchors. On the other hand, one can choose to provide their own anchor points, represented as a list of hsl values, for a more personal touch. The power to shape and mold the colors lies in your hands."

new Poline({
  anchorColors: [
    [309, 0.72, 0.8],
    [67, 0.32, 0.08],
    //...
  ],
});

Points

The magic of “Poline” is revealed through its technique of drawing lines between anchor points. The richness of the palette is determined by the number of points, with each connection producing a unique color.

Increasing the number of points will yield an even greater array of colors. By default, four points are used, but this can easily be adjusted through the ‘numPoints’ property on your Poline instance, as demonstrated in the code example.

new Poline({
  numPoints: 6,
});

The resulting palette is a product of points multiplied by the number of anchor pairs. It can be changed after initialization by setting the numPoints property on your “Poline” instance.

Anchors

At the heart of “Poline” lies the concept of anchors, the fixed points that serve as the foundation for the creation of color palettes. Anchors are represented as a list of hsl values, which consist of three components: hue [0…360], saturation [0…1], and lightness [0…1].

The choice is yours, whether to provide your own anchor points during initialization or to allow “Poline” to generate a random selection for you by omitting the ‘anchorColors’ argument. The versatility of Poline extends “Poline” its initial setup, as you can also add anchors to your palette at any time using the ‘addAnchorPoint’ method. This method accepts either a color as HSL array values or an array of X, Y, Z coordinates, further expanding the possibilities of your color creation.

poline.addAnchorPoint({
  color: [100, 0.91, 0.8],
});

// or

poline.addAnchorPoint({
  xyz: [0.43, 0.89, 0.91],
});

You can also specify where to insert the new anchor by providing an insertAtIndex parameter:

poline.addAnchorPoint({
  color: [200, 0.5, 0.6],
  insertAtIndex: 1, // Insert after the first anchor
});

Clamping to Circle

When working with XYZ coordinates, you may want to ensure anchor points stay within the valid color wheel (a circle of radius 0.5 centered at 0.5, 0.5). The clampToCircle option constrains coordinates to remain inside this boundary. Note: this only affects future addAnchorPoint and updateAnchorPoint calls — existing anchor points are not retroactively clamped.

You can set a default behavior for all anchor operations:

// During initialization
const poline = new Poline({
  anchorColors: [...],
  clampToCircle: true  // All anchor operations will clamp by default
});

// Or change it later
poline.clampToCircle = true;

You can also override the default on a per-call basis:

// Clamp this specific anchor point
poline.addAnchorPoint({
  xyz: [0.9, 0.9, 0.5],
  clamp: true, // Will be clamped to stay within color wheel
});

// Override the default to disable clamping for this call
poline.updateAnchorPoint({
  pointIndex: 0,
  xyz: [1.0, 1.0, 0.5],
  clamp: false, // Explicitly disable clamping
});

The clampToCircle helper function is also exported for use in your own code:

import { clampToCircle } from "poline";

const [clampedX, clampedY] = clampToCircle(0.9, 0.9);
// Returns coordinates clamped to circle boundary

Updating Anchors

With this feature, you have the power to fine-tune your palette and make adjustments as your creative vision evolves. So whether you are looking to make subtle changes or bold alterations, “Poline” is always ready to help you achieve your desired result.

The ability to update existing anchors is made possible through the ‘updateAnchorPoint’ method. This method accepts the reference to the anchor you wish to modify and either a color in the form of HSL representation or an XYZ position array.

poline.updateAnchorPoint({
  point: poline.anchorPoints[0],
  color: [286, 0.22, 0.22],
});

You can also update an anchor by its index:

poline.updateAnchorPoint({
  pointIndex: 1,
  color: [120, 0.8, 0.5],
});

Position Function

The position function in “Poline” plays a crucial role in determining the distribution of colors between the anchors. It works similar to easing functions and can be imported from the “Poline” module.

A position function is a mathematical function that maps a value between 0 and 1 to another value between 0 and 1. By definition the same position function for all axes “Poline” will draw a straight line between the anchors. The chosen function will determine the distribution of colors between the anchors.

import { Poline, positionFunctions } from "poline";

new Poline({
  positionFunction: positionFunctions.linearPosition,
});

If none is provided, “Poline” will use the default function, which is a sinusoidal function. The following position functions are available and can be included by importing the positionFunctions object from the “Poline” module:

• linearPosition
• exponentialPosition
• quadraticPosition
• cubicPosition
• quarticPosition
• sinusoidalPosition (default)
• asinusoidalPosition
• arcPosition
• smoothStepPosition

Here’s a visual representation of how these functions affect the distribution:

Function Name	Effect on Color Distribution
linearPosition	Even distribution of colors along the path
exponentialPosition	Colors cluster near one end, spreading out toward the other
sinusoidalPosition	Smooth acceleration and deceleration of colors
arcPosition	Colors follow an arc-like distribution

Arcs

By defining different position functions for each axis, you can control the distribution of colors along each axis (positionFunctionX, positionFunctionY, positionFunctionZ). This will draw different arcs and create a diverse range of color palettes.

new Poline({
  positionFunctionX: positionFunctions.sinusoidalPosition,
  positionFunctionY: positionFunctions.quadraticPosition,
  positionFunctionZ: positionFunctions.linearPosition,
});

Palette

By default, the palette is not a closed loop. This means that the last color generated is not the same as the first color. If you want the palette to be a closed loop, you can set the closedLoop argument to true.

poline.closedLoop = true;

It is also possible to close the loop after the fact by setting poline.closedLoop = true|false.

Hue Shifting

With the power of hue shifting, “Poline” provides yet another level of customization. This feature allows you to shift the hue of the colors generated by a certain amount, giving you the ability to animate your palette or create similar color combinations with different hues."

“poline” supports hue shifting. This means that the hue of the colors will be shifted by a certain amount. This can be useful if you want to animate the palette or generate a palette that looks similar to your current palette but using different hues.

poline.shiftHue(1);

The amount is a int or float between -Infinity and Infinity. It will permanently shift the hue of all colors in the palette.

Color At Position

The getColorAt method allows you to sample any color along the entire color journey by providing a position between 0 and 1. This treats all segments as one continuous path, respecting the easing functions for each axis.

Position 0 returns the color at the very beginning, 0.5 returns the color at the middle of the entire journey, and 1 returns the color at the very end. The method accounts for all easing functions and segment transitions.

// Get color at the start of the palette
const startColor = poline.getColorAt(0);

// Get color at the middle of the palette
const middleColor = poline.getColorAt(0.5);

// Get color at the end of the palette
const endColor = poline.getColorAt(1);

// Get color at any position (e.g., 25% through)
const quarterColor = poline.getColorAt(0.25);

// Access the color values
console.log(middleColor.hsl); // HSL array [h, s, l]
console.log(middleColor.hslCSS); // CSS string "hsl(120, 80%, 60%)"

This method is particularly useful for:

• Creating smooth animations by incrementing the position value
• Generating gradients with precise color sampling
• Building color pickers with continuous color selection
• Creating custom interpolation between palette extremes

Closest Anchor

In some situations, you might want to know which anchor is closest to a certain position or color. This method is used in the visualizer to highlight to select the closest anchor on click.

poline.getClosestAnchorPoint({ xyz: [x, y, null], maxDistance: 0.1 });

The maxDistance argument is optional and will return null if the closest anchor is further away than the maxDistance. Any of the xyz or hsl components can be null. If they are null, they will be ignored.

Color List

The ‘poline’ instance returns all colors as an array of hsl, lch or oklch arrays or alternatively as an array of CSS strings.

poline.colors; // Array of HSL values [[h, s, l], [h, s, l], ...]
poline.colorsCSS; // Array of CSS HSL strings ['hsl(h, s%, l%)', ...]
poline.colorsCSSlch; // Array of CSS LCH strings ['lch(l% c h)', ...]
poline.colorsCSSoklch; // Array of CSS OKLCH strings ['oklch(l% c h)', ...]

Remove Anchors

To remove an anchor, you can use the removeAnchorPoint method. It either takes an anchor reference or an index as an argument.

poline.removeAnchorPoint({
  point: poline.anchorPoints[poline.anchorPoints.length - 1],
});
// or
poline.removeAnchorPoint({
  index: poline.anchorPoints.length - 1,
});

Inverted Lightness

The magical construct of “poline” offers the power to invert the lightness calculation, creating palettes with different visual characteristics. You can toggle this option during initialization or later through the instance property.

// During initialization
const poline = new Poline({
  invertedLightness: true,
});

// Or later
poline.invertedLightness = true;

When inverted, colors near the center of the coordinate system will have higher lightness values, while colors at the edge will be darker, creating a different aesthetic in your palette.

Color Model

To keep the library as lightweight as possible, “poline” only supports the hsl color model out of the box. However, it is easily possible to use other color models by using a library like culori.

import { Poline } from "poline";
import { formatHex } from "culori";
const poline = new Poline(/** options */);

const OKHslColors = [...poline.colors].map((c) =>
  formatHex({
    mode: "okhsl",
    h: c[0],
    s: c[1],
    l: c[2],
  })
);
const LCHColors = [...poline.colors].map((c) =>
  formatHex({
    mode: "lch",
    h: c[0],
    c: c[1] * 51.484,
    l: c[2] * 100,
  })
);

Common Use Cases

Creating a Gradient

“poline” can be used to generate CSS gradients with unique color distributions:

const poline = new Poline({
  anchorColors: [
    [210, 0.8, 0.6], // Blue
    [30, 0.8, 0.6], // Orange
  ],
  numPoints: 8,
});

// Generate a CSS linear gradient
const colors = poline.colorsCSS;
const gradient = `linear-gradient(in oklab, ${colors.join(", ")})`;

// Apply to an element
document.getElementById("gradient").style.background = gradient;

Generating Color Schemes for Data Visualization

“poline” excels at creating color schemes for data visualization. In this case, this makes a great diverging color scheme for a chart:

// Create a palette with perceptually distinct colors
const poline = new Poline({
  anchorColors: [
    [10, 0.7, 0.9],
    [70, 0.97, 0],
    [260, 0.7, 0.0],
  ],
  positionFunction: positionFunctions.linearPosition,
  numPoints: 7,
  closedLoop: true,
});

// Use the colors for chart elements
const chartColors = poline.colorsCSS;

Animating Palettes

You can animate your “poline” palette to create mesmerizing effects:

const poline = new Poline();
let animationFrame;

function animatePalette() {
  // Shift the hue slightly each frame
  poline.shiftHue(0.5);

  // Update elements with new colors
  const elements = document.querySelectorAll(".color-element");
  const colors = poline.colorsCSS;

  elements.forEach((el, i) => {
    el.style.backgroundColor = colors[i % colors.length];
  });

  animationFrame = requestAnimationFrame(animatePalette);
}

// Start/stop animation
document.getElementById("toggle-animation").addEventListener("click", () => {
  if (animationFrame) {
    cancelAnimationFrame(animationFrame);
    animationFrame = null;
  } else {
    animatePalette();
  }
});

Error Handling

“poline” will conjure mystical errors when improper incantations are attempted. Be prepared to handle these manifestations:

• When providing fewer than two anchor colors: "Must have at least two anchor colors"
• When setting numPoints to less than 1: "Must have at least one point"
• When removing too many anchors: "Must have at least two anchor points"
• When providing invalid parameters: "Point must be initialized with either x,y,z or hsl"
• When the anchor point is not found: "Point not found"

Example of proper error handling:

try {
  const poline = new Poline({
    anchorColors: [[100, 0.5, 0.5]], // Only one anchor color!
  });
} catch (error) {
  console.error("Failed to summon palette:", error.message);
  // Fallback to default settings
  const poline = new Poline();
}

TypeScript Support

“poline” is written in TypeScript and provides type definitions for all its features. The main types you’ll encounter:

// Basic vector types
type Vector2 = [number, number];
type Vector3 = [number, ...Vector2];
type PartialVector3 = [number | null, number | null, number | null];

// Position function type
type PositionFunction = (t: number, reverse?: boolean) => number;

// Options for creating a Poline instance
type PolineOptions = {
  anchorColors?: Vector3[]; // Optional: defaults to random pair
  numPoints?: number; // Optional: defaults to 4
  positionFunction?: PositionFunction;
  positionFunctionX?: PositionFunction;
  positionFunctionY?: PositionFunction;
  positionFunctionZ?: PositionFunction;
  invertedLightness?: boolean;
  closedLoop?: boolean;
  clampToCircle?: boolean; // Optional: clamp anchor points to color wheel
};

// Color point collection
type ColorPointCollection = {
  xyz?: Vector3;
  color?: Vector3;
  invertedLightness?: boolean;
};

API Reference

Behold the arcane interface of “poline”, detailed in full for your enlightenment:

Poline Class

Constructor (ColorPoint Class)

constructor(options?: PolineOptions)

Properties of the Poline Class

• numPoints: number - Get/set the number of points between anchors
• positionFunction: PositionFunction | PositionFunction[] - Get/set the position function(s)
• positionFunctionX: PositionFunction - Get/set the X-axis position function
• positionFunctionY: PositionFunction - Get/set the Y-axis position function
• positionFunctionZ: PositionFunction - Get/set the Z-axis position function
• anchorPoints: ColorPoint[] - Get/set the anchor points
• closedLoop: boolean - Get/set whether the palette forms a closed loop
• invertedLightness: boolean - Get/set whether lightness calculation is inverted
• clampToCircle: boolean - Get/set whether future anchor point operations clamp coordinates to the color wheel
• flattenedPoints: ColorPoint[] - Get all points in a flat array
• colors: Vector3[] - Get all colors as HSL arrays
• colorsCSS: string[] - Get all colors as CSS HSL strings
• colorsCSSlch: string[] - Get all colors as CSS LCH strings
• colorsCSSoklch: string[] - Get all colors as CSS OKLCH strings

Methods of the ColorPoint Class

• updateAnchorPairs(): void - Update internal anchor pairs
• addAnchorPoint(options: ColorPointCollection & { insertAtIndex?: number; clamp?: boolean }): ColorPoint - Add a new anchor point
• removeAnchorPoint(options: { point?: ColorPoint; index?: number }): void - Remove an anchor point
• updateAnchorPoint(options: { point?: ColorPoint; pointIndex?: number; clamp?: boolean } & ColorPointCollection): ColorPoint - Update an anchor point
• getClosestAnchorPoint(options: { xyz?: PartialVector3; hsl?: PartialVector3; maxDistance?: number }): ColorPoint | null - Find closest anchor point
• getColorAt(t: number): ColorPoint - Get color at a specific position (0-1) along the entire palette
• shiftHue(hShift?: number): void - Shift the hue of all colors

ColorPoint Class

Constructor

constructor(options?: ColorPointCollection)

Properties

• position: Vector3 - Get/set the XYZ position
• hsl: Vector3 - Get/set the HSL color
• hslCSS: string - Get the CSS HSL string
• oklchCSS: string - Get the CSS OKLCH string
• lchCSS: string - Get the CSS LCH string

Methods

• positionOrColor(options: ColorPointCollection): void - Set position or color
• shiftHue(angle: number): void - Shift the hue of the color

Position Functions

All position functions have the signature:

(t: number, reverse?: boolean) => number;

Available functions:

• linearPosition
• exponentialPosition
• quadraticPosition
• cubicPosition
• quarticPosition
• sinusoidalPosition
• asinusoidalPosition
• arcPosition
• smoothStepPosition

Web Component

“poline” also provides a web component called <poline-picker> that creates an interactive color wheel for visualizing and manipulating your color palettes. This interface allows users to drag anchor points and see real-time updates to their palette. A simple demo is available at poline-picker demo.

Basic Usage and Setup

<script type="module">
  import {
    Poline,
    PolinePicker,
  } from "https://unpkg.com/poline/dist/picker.mjs";
</script>

<poline-picker id="picker" interactive allow-add-points></poline-picker>

<script>
  const picker = document.getElementById("picker");

  // Create and set a palette
  const poline = new Poline({
    anchorColors: [
      [300, 0.8, 0.7],
      [60, 0.9, 0.5],
    ],
    numPoints: 6,
  });
  picker.setPoline(poline);

  // Listen for changes
  picker.addEventListener("poline-change", (event) => {
    console.log("New colors:", event.detail.poline.colorsCSS);
  });
</script>

Attributes

The <poline-picker> component supports the following attributes:

• interactive - Enables dragging of anchor points
• allow-add-points - Allows adding new anchor points by clicking on empty areas

Styling the Component

The picker can be styled using CSS custom properties:

poline-picker {
  width: 300px;
  height: 300px;

  /* Customize the appearance */
  --poline-picker-line-color: #333;
  --poline-picker-bg-color: #fff;
}

API Methods

The <poline-picker> element provides several methods for programmatic control:

const picker = document.querySelector("poline-picker");

// Set a new palette
picker.setPoline(myPoline);

// Enable/disable adding points
picker.setAllowAddPoints(true);

// Add a point at specific coordinates (x, y in pixels)
const newPoint = picker.addPointAtPosition(150, 100);

Events

The component dispatches a poline-change event whenever the palette is modified:

picker.addEventListener("poline-change", (event) => {
  const { poline } = event.detail;
  // Access the updated palette
  console.log("Updated palette:", poline.colorsCSS);
});

Web Component Installation

“poline” is available as an npm package. Alternatively you can clone it on GitHub.

npm install poline

<script type="module">
  import {
    Poline,
    PolinePicker,
  } from "https://unpkg.com/poline/dist/picker.mjs";
</script>

<poline-picker id="picker" interactive allow-add-points></poline-picker>

Using the Web Component

For the interactive <poline-picker> web component, use the picker build:

<script type="module">
  import {
    Poline,
    PolinePicker,
  } from "https://unpkg.com/poline/dist/picker.mjs";
</script>

Or install via npm and import:

import { Poline, PolinePicker } from "poline/dist/picker.mjs";

Development

Testing

“poline” includes a comprehensive test suite to ensure reliability and correctness. Tests are written using Vitest and cover all major functionality including:

• ColorPoint class operations
• HSL/XYZ coordinate conversions
• Position functions and easing
• Palette generation and manipulation
• Anchor point management
• Edge cases and error handling

To run the tests:

npm test

Tests are automatically run before building to ensure code quality.

Building

To build the project:

npm run build

This will:

1. Run the test suite
2. Lint and format check the code
3. Compile TypeScript to JavaScript
4. Generate all distribution bundles (ESM, CommonJS, UMD, minified versions)

Awards

“poline” has been awarded the Swiss Design Award 2026 in the category “Interaction & Media Design”.

License

And thus, the tome of “poline” has been written. Its mystical powers, steeped in the arcane knowledge of the ancients, now reside within these pages. May this compendium serve you in your quest for the ultimate color palette.

The project is MIT licensed and open source. If you find any bugs or have any suggestions please open an issue on GitHub.

Inspired and created with the blessing of Anatoly Zenkov