Masthead: scarlet on newsprintNewsprint paper, black type, gray photo, scarlet masthead, scarlet tint in the side box.#E7E0D0 · #161412 · #808080 · #D92612 · #E08371
Crossword grid: ink black on off-whiteOff-white empty squares, light gray pencil letters, pencil gray clues, dark gray grid lines, ink black filled squares.
Damp paper: ink black on newsprintNewsprint dry corner, warm gray damp patch, pencil gray soaked edge, dark gray blurred print, ink black headline.
Front page photo: black on newsprintNewsprint paper, silver photo sky, gray photo midtones, charcoal photo shadows, black headline.
Kiosk stack: soft black on newsprintNewsprint top copy, light gray page edges, pencil gray string, slate gray stack shadow, soft black mastheads.
Paper hat: soft black on newsprintNewsprint lit fold, warm gray shaded fold, smoke gray columns of text, dark gray creases, soft black headline.
Photo dots: ink black on newsprintNewsprint paper, ash gray small dots, pencil gray mid dots, charcoal large dots, ink black solid shadow.
Press roll: soft black on pale grayPale gray paper web, light gray roller shine, gray rollers, slate gray press frame, soft black ink tray.
Puddle boat: soft black on off-whiteOff-white sail fold, silver hull side, gray text on the hull, dark gray fold shadow, soft black puddle.
Rolled paper: charcoal on off-whiteOff-white roll end, silver shaded curve, warm gray rubber band shadow, slate gray print, charcoal doorstep shadow.
Small ads: black on pale grayPale gray paper, ash gray column rules, smoke gray small print, charcoal bold words, black box borders.
Show all 40 palettes (30 more)
Ink black with one spot color 10
Coupon border: magenta on newsprintNewsprint paper, black type, warm gray small print, magenta dashed border, magenta tint inside the coupon.
Garden column: burnt orange on newsprintNewsprint paper, soft black type, gray leaf sketch, burnt orange column title, burnt orange tint in the tip box.
Late edition: royal blue on newsprintNewsprint paper, ink black type, dark gray photo, royal blue edition stamp, royal blue tint on the side panel.
Masthead: scarlet on newsprintNewsprint paper, black type, gray photo, scarlet masthead, scarlet tint in the side box.
Puzzle corner: purple on newsprintNewsprint paper, ink black type, pencil gray solved squares, purple page header, purple tint in the answer box.
Shoe sale advert: crimson on newsprintNewsprint paper, black type, ash gray shoe drawing, crimson price burst, crimson tint in the coupon box.
Sports banner: green on newsprintNewsprint paper, soft black type, smoke gray action photo, green banner, green tint in the score box.
Travel page: navy on newsprintNewsprint paper, charcoal type, ash gray map lines, navy page title, navy tint on the map sea.
TV listings: teal on newsprintNewsprint paper, charcoal type, light gray grid lines, teal channel bar, teal tint on the evening column.
Weather map: cobalt on newsprintNewsprint paper, ink black type, silver land, cobalt rain bands, cobalt tint on the sea.
Aged paper 10
Album clipping: brown-black on parchmentParchment clipping, sand album page, ochre old tape, brown caption ink, brown-black print.
Attic bundle: dark brown on strawStraw top page, tan page edges, tea brown string, sepia print, dark brown attic shadow.
Drawer liner: dark brown on sandSand paper, oat worn patch, rust mark of an old key, sepia print, dark brown drawer wood.
Marked page: dark brown on butter yellowButter yellow page, sand margin, faded red pencil ring, sepia print, dark brown headline.
Pressed flower: brown-black on oatOat paper, straw petal stain, faded red pressed petals, brown stem, brown-black print.
Recipe clipping: sepia on creamCream clipping, sand recipe card, ochre grease spot, faded blue pen note, sepia print.
Shelf lining: dark brown on strawStraw paper, parchment worn track, rust tin ring, tea brown shelf edge, dark brown print.
Sunned edge: dark brown on butter yellowButter yellow sunned edge, parchment shaded page, tan fold line, brown print, dark brown headline.
Tea ring: brown-black on creamCream paper, oat old fold, tea brown cup ring, sepia print, brown-black headline.
Wrapped china: sepia on parchmentParchment wrapping, straw creases, faded blue cup rim, tea brown box, sepia print.
Comic-page tints 10
Alarm clock gag: salmon and pale blueOff-white paper, salmon clock, pale blue blanket, pale yellow sunrise, soft black line.
Banana peel: pale yellow and pale pinkCream paper, pale yellow peel, pale pink shirt, mint street trees, charcoal line.
Dog and mail carrier: peach and sky blueOff-white paper, peach dog, sky blue uniform, pale green lawn, ink black line.
Fishbowl gag: lavender and aquaOff-white paper, lavender cat, aqua water, peach goldfish, black line.
Island gag: butter yellow and sky blueNewsprint paper, butter yellow sand, sky blue sea, mint palm, soft black line.
Kite gag: aqua and salmonCream paper, aqua sky, salmon kite, pale yellow sun, black line.
Pie gag: peach and lavenderCream paper, peach pie crust, lavender steam shadow, pale green curtain, ink black line.
Rocket strip: lavender and peachNewsprint paper, lavender night sky, peach rocket flame, pale green planet, black line.
Snowman gag: pale blue and salmonPale gray paper, pale blue snow shadow, salmon scarf, pale yellow window light, ink black line.
Thought bubble: pale blue and pale yellowNewsprint paper, pale blue sky, pale yellow bubble glow, pale pink cheeks, black line.
How this list was compiled: Own work, written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-13: palettes of five colors taken from a printed newspaper, in four kinds (newsprint grays, ink black with one spot color, aged paper, comic-page tints). Every palette, name, color word, hex code and part is our own choice; nothing is sampled from a newspaper, a photograph or a comic strip, and no newspaper, publisher, comic strip or character is named. How a strip is ordered: the paper comes first and each color is named for its part; a Newsprint grays strip runs from the paper to the ink, each color darker than the one before; a spot color strip is the paper, the black type, one gray, the spot ink, and that ink as a tint; a Comic-page tints strip is the paper, three pale tints and the black line. Worked out as our own approximation and not a measurement of ink: a tint in the spot color group is the even blend of the stored codes of the spot ink and the newsprint (the ink at half strength on that paper). Our own tests, not a standard: in a Newsprint grays strip every color after the paper is a gray or a black, each is darker than the one before and 10 or more from it in CIE Lab, and the ink contrasts with the paper by 7 to 1 or more (the WCAG contrast ratio formula, https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/contrast-minimum.html, used as our own threshold); a spot ink has an HSL saturation of 55 percent or more and contrasts with the newsprint by 3 to 1 or more; an Aged paper strip starts with a yellowed paper (a hue from 30 to 56 degrees), holds no gray and no black and at most one color outside the browns and yellows, and its darkest color is a brown that contrasts with the paper by 4.5 to 1 or more; the three tints of a Comic-page tints strip each have a lightness of 70 percent or more and stand 40 degrees or more apart in hue; no two colors of a palette are closer than 8 in CIE Lab. The facts in the page copy, checked on 2026-10-13 against English Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0): Newsprint, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newsprint (a low-cost paper most commonly used to print newspapers; it usually has an off-white cast; it is mostly made by mechanical milling, skipping the chemical steps that often take the lignin out of pulp, and lignin turns the paper brittle and yellow in air or sunlight); Spot color, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_color (in offset printing a spot color is any color made by one ink printed in a single run, while a process color is built up from dots of different colors). Which colors stand for a newspaper is our choice. Color names are plain English words with no paint maker, pencil brand or color-matching system, and one word is one code everywhere on this list. Checked on 2026-10-13: every code is #RRGGBB, each color word fits the hue and lightness of its code, no palette, name or line repeats, no two palettes share four codes, and no palette is on another palette list of this site or of its sister sites. The hex codes are for a screen; with paint, pencils or markers, take the nearest color. Licence: own work
How it works
A newspaper color palette starts with the paper, an off-white newsprint, then the black ink and what is printed with it: the grays of a photo, one spot color, or the pale tints of the comics page.
Read the full guide
Four kinds of newspaper palette
Newsprint grays run from the paper to the ink in five steps. Ink black with one spot color adds a single ink, such as the scarlet of Masthead, and a lighter tint of it. Aged paper is yellowed pages with brown print and no gray. Comic-page tints are three pale colors and a black line.
Paper first, then ink
Fill the page with the first color, since newsprint is not pure white. Keep the darkest color for type and outlines, and use a spot color once, where the eye should land.
Questions and answers
What color is newspaper?
Newsprint, the low-cost paper most commonly used to print newspapers, usually has an off-white cast. On this list it is newsprint #E7E0D0, with off-white #F0EEE6 and pale gray #DBDAD6 as cleaner papers and black #161412 for the ink.
Why does old newspaper turn yellow?
Newsprint is generally made without the chemical processes that remove lignin from the pulp, and lignin makes the paper brittle and yellow in air or sunlight. Aged paper strips start from a yellowed sheet such as straw #DDCE9D and print in brown.
What is a spot color in a newspaper?
In offset printing a spot color is one ink printed in a single run, where a process color is built from dots of different colors. Each spot strip here pairs one ink with black: Weather map is cobalt #1554C1 on newsprint.
How do I get a vintage newspaper look?
Start from a yellowed paper such as parchment #E4D8BE, print in sepia #64472B in place of black, and add one worn mark. Album clipping has a strip of old ochre tape; Tea ring has the ring of a cup.