While surfing around the other day I came across this cool little online tool that lets you enter the url for an image, and it quickly creates a color palette from colors in the image. I know that I can always just pull an image into Photoshop and use the eyedropper to get the specific information on any individual color, but it's cool to be able to see the predominant colors together in little blocks of color. I think it would be a great tool to use to help create a marketing piece when you know the image you plan to use. I also have always liked the idea of designing the color palette for a room based on a defining photograph, and this can quickly help you visualize what that might be. If nothing else, I think it's a fun little way to waste a few minutes!
Here are a couple samples from images I entered. My photos don't really look all squished like this! It mushes any image into a square. It was sort of interesting to me how my predominant color in an image didn't always show up. In the first sample the palette doesn't show any blue, and the second one it doesn't show any green. But in a way it may make you look at color combinations from the image that you might not have considered, and possibly go with more subtle colors to complement the image.
If you have other ideas for how you might use this tool with your photography, I'd love to hear them in the comments below.
-- Mary Lynne
It sounds funny, but since it picks up complimentary colors, it would be good for choosing mat board colors.
Posted by: Colleen Coppock | January 25, 2011 at 01:54 PM