Everything you ever wanted to know about colors but were afraid to ask.
4
votes
1answer
794 views
Color Theme Repo Similar to Kuler
I have a website where users can create custom designed paper goods. I default the color selections for a template to something popular I found on Kuler, but I've noticed the colors themes that the ...
1
vote
3answers
3k views
When I export an image from Illustrator, why is it a slightly different color in the exported image?
I have a web design layout in AI that I'm trying to slice up into HTML/CSS. I'm having trouble keeping the colors the same in the exported files as they are in Illustrator.
When I open it up in ...
1
vote
1answer
235 views
What color sets are there?
I've got a music player that colors the playlist songs according to various criteria, and recently I've changed the random color generator to a static list of traditional japanese colors. That made ...
3
votes
2answers
153 views
How do I shift/remap one range of colors to another in Photoshop?
I have attached an image to hopefully explain better, but if say I have an image that ranges from color 'A' to 'C', and I want it to range from 'B' to 'D' instead - what is the best method?
I'm sure ...
1
vote
2answers
276 views
What's this type of abstract, blended-color image called?
I'm trying to create a landing page, and the main image which I have in mind contains a blended combination of mixed abstract colors. Something like those images:
However, it seems I'm not using ...
6
votes
1answer
2k views
How can I map the colors in a greyscale image to a specific color “gradient”?
Caveat: I'm not a graphic designer and may be misusing some terminology. Please bear with me. :-)
I'm attempting to add color to some greyscale icons (i.e. all three channels are identical). I ...
1
vote
1answer
506 views
How can I apply color to a grayscale image?
I'm using Fireworks for graphical drawing, and I have this bitmap image that contains some greys that I wish to change it to red, however if I use the Hue/Saturation on it, it does not change colour.
...
3
votes
4answers
593 views
In color theory, what are primary and secondary colors?
I went through an article on color connotations and it did not explain why colors are grouped as primary and secondary so I don't know if it is important to know the reason why we have:
warm color
...
4
votes
3answers
110 views
Which tool to balance color strength ?
lets say I have a rectangle divided in two complementary colors, yellow and purple.
How can I calculate the percentage of surface that both colors require so that none seem to take over ? (I'm ...
7
votes
3answers
651 views
Choosing colors that work well on projectors
When specifying colors for use in a software user interface, what's the best way to ensure that those colors will look acceptable on all common display technologies: CRT, LCD, and in particular ...
4
votes
5answers
344 views
Colors in Website Design
It's not a kind of question but rather it's a kind of thing which effects a lot in web designing.
What are some important rules to follow for making a color combination in web design?
I always fail ...
8
votes
3answers
513 views
What's a good source of color palettes to provide to a color-blind user?
There's a question on this site already about choosing good color palettes when designing for color-blind users. My question is different — it's about working with colors for an audience with normal ...
8
votes
2answers
318 views
Why does anti-aliasing in black characters use colors other than gray-scale ?
I'm a developer, I'm not a graphic designer. But there's one question that bugs me every since I've noticed it some years ago.
Anti-aliasing is a method for removing the sharpiness from high contrast ...
8
votes
9answers
4k views
Good color palette, usable for the color blind.
I'm designing a chart right now, that will slowly have more items added to it. I'd like to create an list/order of colors for the items, that will be most usable for the color blind to differentiate ...
5
votes
5answers
394 views
How do I get rid of a background color (with a glow)
I have this image:
Is there any way to get rid of the red background (make it transparent) yet keep all the glow effects? So far I've only been able to remove the pure-red parts of the image, yet ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
In Inkscape, how can I save colors for use in multiple elements?
For example, I'd like to have a color called "text-color" or one called "content-box-color". How can I save a color like this and then assign it to an element?
5
votes
1answer
937 views
Fully Importing A Saved Colour Palette In Illustrator?
Is there any way to fully import a saved colour palette into Illustrator? I once saved a colour palette from one project and wanted to import the colours for use in another project, but I found that ...
4
votes
3answers
544 views
Color inverting layer
I am trying to make an arrow that will stand out against any background. I know there are ways to make transparent and semi-transparent images.
I was wondering if there is a way to make a layer that ...
2
votes
2answers
121 views
Good Resources for Colour Schemes? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Picking colors that don't clash.
What are some good resources for getting colour schemes/palettes for your designs? I usually mix/make them myself but sometimes I ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
Good background and text colors for a website with both photos and text
I put both photos and significant blocks of text on a couple of websites I run. Currently, I'm using white text on black or dark gray. It's getting a bit old, and I think I'd prefer text darker than ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
Translation of Hex Colours to RGB Colours?
Apparently Illustrator and Photoshop uses different colour settings - Illustrator uses RGB and Photoshop uses some hex/HTML-like colour system with a combination of letters and numbers. Is there any ...
15
votes
4answers
3k views
What's the difference between CMYK Black and RGB Black
I know this sounds a stupid question, black is black right?
Wrong:
It's black right? so why are the CMYK Values so far away from black?
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Convert a pattern/photo to a given palette
How would I convert a photograph or pattern to use only colors from a palette I give it? Is this possible in Photoshop? I think Pic2Color used to do something like this but it's offline...
Thanks!
3
votes
3answers
2k views
Table of hex colors for NCAA teams?
Greetings designers.
I've done enough googling to know that there are other people looking for this color table, but I can't find it for the life of me. I'm close to trying to write a script to ...
6
votes
2answers
7k views
Good color to go with black & white design?
What's a good color to go with a black and white design, if there will only be one color on the site? I've tried using color palettes but they're not very helpful, because if the first two colors are ...
3
votes
3answers
89 views
What colors to choose for displaying blocks of texts on a colored background?
I know, that color of the background and of the text should have enough contrast to each other. That rule in mind, blue (#0000ff) text on red (#ff0000) background should be fine. But I get the feeling ...
3
votes
2answers
602 views
Command line interface-based way to desaturate and posterize an image?
This is by far my most common task, and I'd say I've wasted about 1000 mouse clicks on it in my raster-based program.
Because it's so common for me to start off desaturating an image and then ...
4
votes
3answers
973 views
How to choose the right color to get the wanted effect in web design?
For example, in this tutorial, how could the author know which color to choose for creating a navigation bar? Why did he/she know that the gradient from #d0d0d0 to #f9f9f9 would generate the following ...
6
votes
10answers
495 views
Are there examples of software that use a dark colour scheme?
A client told me they want something with more a design software feel rather than web 2.0 feel, particularly something with a dark colour scheme. So now I am looking for some examples to show to him. ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Do you use colour lasers for proof printing?
I own an EPSON Stylus Photo RX640 printer which prints really good on special paper media, but is rather poor when it comes to normal (>75%) printing on plain papers. Beside that it's also quite ...
27
votes
8answers
973 views
Is there a good resource or tool to help build a palette/color scheme around colors I select?
No matter how nice the composition, flow, and lines of my design are, if I am not copying directly from nature, I have a very difficult time picking a decent color scheme. It either looks too drab, ...
8
votes
2answers
559 views
Why is this gradient considered metallic chrome?
Why is the "white to brown & white to blue" gradient generally considered a shiny metal?
What is the reasoning/theory behind this? Why those colours? (If someone says chrome, you might first ...
7
votes
2answers
94 views
Calibrating a screen on a budget?
How would you calibrate a screen on a budget?
Are there simple, affordable devices, methods, or printed kits that help achieve at least some degree of colour correctness on a modern TFT monitor?
...
15
votes
3answers
951 views
How do I make screenshots look good when printed in CMYK?
Whn printing screenshots alongside black text, black areas of the screenshot look a washed out muddy dark grey - what causes this and can I improve matters?
9
votes
5answers
4k views
What is 5-colour printing?
When my print rep talks about five-colour printing, what does he mean? I know you have cyan, magenta, yellow and black - but what's the fifth?
5
votes
3answers
337 views
How many colors should be used in a background gradient?
For on-screen design (web or desktop applications), in areas where there is significant background space visible, a subtle gradient adds a lot to the look of the app/page/image. How many colors (max) ...
3
votes
3answers
290 views
How to export PNG to be compatible with all browsers
I recently found our that some PNG files render a slightly different shade of color in Safari. (I think this is because Safari can't render PNG Gamma channel properly or what).
How do I export the ...
4
votes
2answers
120 views
Why are certain colors more prone to compression artifacts than others?
I most often see this with compressed video, but I've also seen it often enough with JPEG images. Many times blacks, reds, and other generally dark colors seem to be especially prone to compression ...
23
votes
8answers
5k views
What is the difference between CMYK and RGB? Are there other color spaces I should know?
I'm a photographer, who dabbles in graphic design from time to time as well. What are the differences between the various color spaces?
20
votes
10answers
574 views
What web graphics formats to use?
Web sites can contain JPEG, GIF, and PNG format graphics. Which ones should be used, and when?
36
votes
5answers
2k views
Are “web-safe” colors still important?
Years ago, it was always strongly recommended that web designers should only use web-safe colors.
Have studies been done to see if this is still the case? If so, what's the answer?
Edited to add…
...
7
votes
1answer
372 views
Contrast ratio between foreground and background
What is an acceptable contrast ratio between a foreground and its background?
8
votes
4answers
302 views
Do high-content areas of a website need to be white/light-colored?
Many websites that are designed to be easy to read (eg. nytimes.com or ilovetypography.com) use white backgrounds with black fonts to make the content easy to read. Is it necessary to only use light ...
22
votes
6answers
953 views
Sources for Color Theory or Psychology of Color
Does anyone have a recommendation for a good book/blog/forum that focuses on design principles such as psychology of color, specifically where it relates to picking a color palette for a communication ...
9
votes
5answers
33k views
How do I change a single layer to grayscale in Photoshop CS4?
I know you can have the whole image turn grayscale: Image > Mode > Grayscale, but what if I only want to make specific layers grayscale? There's gotta be an easier way than pulling out the layers you ...
