In the original sense of the word, a palette is a rigid, flat surface on which painters can lay out and mix paint. Color palettes are usually made of wood, plastic, ceramics or other hard, inert, non porous materials, and may vary greatly in size and shape. One of the most common types of painter's palette is made of a thin board designed to hold in the artist's hand and rest on the artist's arm. Watercolor color palette is usually made of plastic or porcelain, with rectangle or wheel shape, and built-in hole and color mixing area.

Starting from the original literal meaning, it is an extended symbolic meaning, which refers to the color selection used in a specific artistic object or a group of works containing visual style. The second symbolic meaning is the computational meaning extended to "palette" in the digital era.

The wet palette is a sealable container with a layer of absorbent material (e.g. tissue or sponge) that can be soaked with water and a semi permeable membrane (e.g. parchment, greaseproof paper or baking paper (silica gel paper)). The coating sits on the membrane and is kept moist by osmosis. The main purpose of wet palette is to keep acrylic paint, and the drying of this paint is irreversible and feasible. Wet palettes are easy to manufacture but can be purchased.