What's new in Suisai 1.1
Suisai 1.1 brings a substantial expansion of its color accessibility tools, alongside new ways to create, find, edit, and reuse your colors.
Meet Nōtan, a dedicated WCAG 2.2 contrast checker with Pair, Matrix, Ladder, and Reach. Explore color-vision simulations, give your colors custom names, and turn CSS and other stylesheets into editable palettes.
The Palette Library can now find collections by the colors they contain, swatches move directly between windows, and expanded keyboard controls make everyday work easier. There are also two new code formats, another harmony mode, and refinements throughout the application.
Version 1.1 is a free update for existing Suisai 1.x customers.
Can someone read this?
Nōtan (濃淡) is Suisai's new WCAG 2.2 contrast checker. Compare foreground and background colors using your own text, font, size, and weight, with contrast ratios and AA/AAA results shown alongside the preview.
A result that fails a contrast requirement is only part of the answer. Reach helps find the smallest available lightness adjustment that meets your chosen target, preserving the original hue and as much chroma as possible. It can also suggest suitable colors already in your palettes, so you don't have to introduce another shade unnecessarily.
For larger collections, Matrix evaluates every color pairing in a set of up to ten. Ladder takes a more focused approach: hold one color constant and compare it against every other color, either as text or as the background. Each result includes a visual preview and its WCAG assessment.
See colors from a different perspective
Suisai now includes four color-vision simulations: Protanopia, Deuteranopia, Tritanopia, and Achromatopsia.
Apply a simulation to a palette, the Color Bench, or Nōtan to examine how the colors may appear under different types of color-vision deficiency. Switch between normal and simulated views to identify combinations that become difficult to distinguish.
Simulations change only how colors are displayed. Your original color values, palette files, and calculated WCAG contrast ratios remain unchanged.
Your colors, under your own names
Give any swatch a name of your own. Double-click its name and type; Suisai keeps that name when you save or export the palette, and carries it with the color into the Bench and Nōtan. Colors without custom names continue to use their nearest matched names.
You can also open CSS, SCSS, Sass, and Less stylesheets as editable palettes. Drop a file onto Suisai or paste a CSS :root block, and its colors become swatches named after their variables.
Stylesheets can be included in watched folders, keeping project and brand colors searchable alongside your other palettes. Export a palette as CSS and reopen it later with its variable names preserved.
Two new code formats complete the workflow: CSS Variable declarations and CSS var() references, bringing the total to forty-three individual color formats.
Find a palette by a color in it
The Palette Library can now search inside your palettes, not just by filename.
Enter a HEX value, paste a color in a supported code format, or drop a swatch into the search field. Choose Exact, Close, or Same Hue to find palettes containing matching or related colors. Results identify the matching swatches and show how closely they correspond to your search.
You can also search by swatch name, including your own custom names.
A new tile view displays your palettes as compact color grids. Select one to see its details, or navigate the collection using the keyboard.
Drag a color where you want it
Move colors more freely between Suisai's windows. Drag a swatch onto another palette to add it where you drop it, or hold Command to move it instead of copying it. Colors can also travel between palettes, the Color Bench, and Nōtan.
Harmonies are more flexible, too. Drop a color directly into a harmony to set its starting shade, or replace an existing seed.
The new Square harmony joins the seven other color-generation options under Harmonies, combining two complementary pairs at right angles. Changes to harmony seeds can now be undone.
Less reaching for the mouse
Version 1.1 expands keyboard navigation throughout Suisai, making it easier to work with colors without repeatedly reaching for the mouse.
Move between swatches, or the bands of a harmony, with the arrow keys, rename a color, open its editing controls, or switch color spaces and picker styles. The Color Bench, Palette Library, and Nōtan now have their own keyboard commands for common operations.
Shortcuts work across more of the interface, including palette editing and transferring colors between tools. The updated shortcuts reference groups commands by window, so they're easier to find when you need them.
The details that make everyday work better
There are plenty of smaller improvements throughout 1.1.
Swatches expand and collapse more smoothly, including when scrollbars appear or disappear. Background processing has been refined, stylesheet imports are faster, and windows more reliably remember where you left them.
Notifications are easier to read and offer Undo where appropriate. There's a new Largest text-size option, more control over how transparency is displayed, and improvements to saving, importing, and exporting.
Direct-download customers can also register Suisai by opening a license file received with their purchase.
These changes sit alongside numerous bug fixes and interface refinements. The full changelog has the details.
All of this, in Suisai 1.1
Suisai 1.1 brings all these additions together in one native macOS color toolbox.
Already own Suisai? Version 1.1 is a free update for everyone with a 1.x license. Direct-download customers can update through Suisai's built-in update system, while Mac App Store purchases receive updates through Apple.
New to Suisai? One purchase gives you the complete application, without subscriptions, accounts, analytics, or tracking.
Direct purchases through Paddle include a 30-day refund policy, with no reason required.
macOS 14 or later · Universal · One-time purchase