What Colors Make Pink? The Color Mixing Guide (+ Palettes)
What colors make pink: mix red and white. A simple guide to mixing pink, including light pink, hot pink, and rose shades, plus palettes to copy.
By PaletteDeck•October 18, 2026•1 min read
Key takeaways
Red and white make pink. Pink is essentially a light tint of red.
More white makes a softer, lighter pink; less white keeps it bold.
Add a touch of blue for a cooler rose pink, or a touch of orange for a warm coral pink.
For hot pink, start from a cooler, magenta-leaning red rather than a warm red.
Pink is one of the simplest colors to mix, because it is really just red made lighter. Understanding that makes every pink shade easy to create.
This guide covers exactly what colors make pink, how to mix light pink, hot pink, and rose, and how to control the result. Click any swatch to copy its hex code.
The red you start with decides everything. A warm red (orange-leaning) makes a peachy, coral pink, while a cool red (pink or magenta-leaning) makes a vivid, true pink or hot pink. Choose your red first, then adjust with white.
Red and white make pink. Pink is a tint of red, so adding white to red is all it takes, with more white giving a lighter pink.
What colors make light pink?
Mix red and white with plenty of white to make light pink. The more white you add, the paler and softer the pink becomes.
What colors make hot pink?
Start from a cool, magenta-leaning red and add just a little white. Hot pink is a bright, vivid pink, so keep the white minimal and the red on the pink-purple side.
What colors make rose or dusty pink?
Make a pink from red and white, then add a tiny touch of blue or gray. This cools and mutes the pink into a rose or dusty-rose tone.
Can you make pink without white?
In paint, white is the usual way to make pink, since pink is a tint of red. On screen or in light you can also make pink by combining red with a little blue and high brightness.
Is pink a shade of red?
Yes. Pink is a light tint of red, created by adding white. That is why red and white are the two colors that make pink.
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