Colour-Blind Friendly Colour Palettes for Scientific Figures
A significant share of readers, especially men, have some form of colour vision deficiency. Red–green
combinations are the most common problem.
Palettes that work
- Okabe-Ito: eight distinct colours designed to be told apart by most people with
colour vision deficiency. A great default for categories.
- Viridis and similar: smooth sequential colour maps that stay readable in greyscale.
- Diverging maps (blue–white–red) for values above and below a midpoint.
Tips
- Do not rely on colour alone: also use shapes, line styles, labels or patterns.
- Avoid rainbow colour maps for continuous data.
- Check your figure in greyscale.
The chart maker uses the Okabe-Ito palette by default and
also offers viridis, a Nature-like palette and greyscale.
Make your figure nowDescribe it or upload a sketch. Free to start.
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