ZX Spectrum palette
The ZX Spectrum’s 8 colours in normal and BRIGHT (15 distinct) as hex codes, plus how the 8×8 attribute system causes colour clash and how to draw around it.
Click a swatch to copy its hex code.
Limits you’re designing around
256×192 screen. Each 8×8 cell can show only 2 colours (ink and paper), both from the same brightness level. That constraint is called attribute clash.
About the ZX Spectrum palette
The Sinclair ZX Spectrum has 8 base colours, each with a BRIGHT variant. Black looks the same in both, giving 15 distinct colours.
Colour is stored per 8×8 character cell, not per pixel. When a sprite crosses a cell of a different colour, the cell changes colour: the famous "colour clash". Many games went monochrome in the play area to avoid it.
Emulators vary slightly in the exact non-bright value (around 205–215 out of 255); #D7 is a common choice.
Draw with it now in the pixel art editor, or convert a picture to these colours.
Hex codes
| # | Colour | Hex | RGB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | #000000 | 0, 0, 0 | |
| 1 | #0000D7 | 0, 0, 215 | |
| 2 | #D70000 | 215, 0, 0 | |
| 3 | #D700D7 | 215, 0, 215 | |
| 4 | #00D700 | 0, 215, 0 | |
| 5 | #00D7D7 | 0, 215, 215 | |
| 6 | #D7D700 | 215, 215, 0 | |
| 7 | #D7D7D7 | 215, 215, 215 | |
| 8 | #0000FF | 0, 0, 255 | |
| 9 | #FF0000 | 255, 0, 0 | |
| 10 | #FF00FF | 255, 0, 255 | |
| 11 | #00FF00 | 0, 255, 0 | |
| 12 | #00FFFF | 0, 255, 255 | |
| 13 | #FFFF00 | 255, 255, 0 | |
| 14 | #FFFFFF | 255, 255, 255 |
Other palettes
Frequently asked questions
How many colours are in the ZX Spectrum palette?
This version has 15 colours. 256×192 screen. Each 8×8 cell can show only 2 colours (ink and paper), both from the same brightness level. That constraint is called attribute clash.
How do I use the ZX Spectrum palette in PixelMint?
Open the editor and pick “ZX Spectrum” from the palette menu beside the canvas. To convert an existing picture to these colours, choose ZX Spectrum in the image to pixel art converter.
Which file should I download?
GPL for Aseprite, GIMP, Krita and Inkscape; HEX for Lospec-compatible tools and quick copy-paste; PNG for anything else (and for loading as a palette image in Aseprite or Pyxel Edit).