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Continued
How to cool
a hot photoWhen your photo cant be changed,surround it with cool color.
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How to cool a hot photoWhen your photo cant be changed, surround it with cool color
The color wheel is anartificial device thats
good but not perfect
colors in nature arent
so evenly distributed
whose purpose is to
show color relationships.
Also on the wheel are
values (dark-light) and
temperature.
Whew! You can almost feel the heat. Reds,
oranges, yellows and golds radiate from
every molecule; even the water is hot. San
Diego, that famously balmy city, never looked
like this in real life. But our assignment is
to create a brochure cover for an upcoming
conference (or for any event in which the city
itself is part of the attraction), and this hot,monotone skyline is the photo they want.
So the challenge is, how do we cool it off, so
visitors wont come expecting to swelter? The
answer is found on the color wheel between
ice blue and yellow, in the turquoise blues
and verdant greens of springtime. Watch.
HotCold
Cool Warm
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First step: Find the color palette in your photo
Every photo has a natural color palette; first step is to find it and organize it. Zoom inon your photo, and youll be astonished by how many colors you see.
First, reduce the photo to amanageable number of colors;
the easiest way is to create
a mosaic using Photoshops
Mosaic filter(Filter>Pixelate>
Mosaic).Working from the big-
gest areas (sky, skyline, water)
to the smallest, extract colors
with the eyedropper tool. For
contrast, pick up dark, medium
and light pixels of each color.
Thenthis is importantsort
your selections by color and
each color by value (dark to
light). This lets you see every
color in relation to the others.
Its obvious just by looking that
this palette is very narrow.
Skyline dark
Skyline light
Water
Sky
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Locate your colors on the wheel
To find compatible colors, we first need to know the relationship of our colors toothers on the wheel. Working by eye (the wheels not exact, remember), locate your
swatches by hue (color) and value.
All the colors in this image are in the yellow-
orange, orange-red range, quite unusual. The sky
is somewhat yellower, some shades are darker
than our chart, but this is the zone.
Shade
Hue
Tint
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A color in common
Adding yellow to blue yields the cool range; these
are the colors of water, new growth, springtime.
They are peaceful colors, tranquil and refreshing.
As with a monochromatic palette, all hues that share
a colorblue, in this case coordinate naturally. Any
color in this range will work with any other.
Tints and shades
Color is made darker or lighter by adding black (a shade)
or white (a tint). Because they are color neutral, black and
white do not change the hue. As a result, any one color
plus its own tints and shades always coordinate naturally.
Such a palette is calledmonochromatic. Blue and orange
are opposites, orcomplements, as shown above.
What we know
Our photo is full of colors in the orange range, andverywarm. Oranges oppositeor complementis blue, the coldest color. Lets start there.
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Color the brochure
Its time to take that hot photo and submerge it in cool colors. For depth, coolness andbeauty, two colors are better than one, and three colors are better than two.
Ice All blue monochromatic palette is very cold and has very
high value contrast with yellow-orange. Blue and orange have
no color in common and therefore have high color contrast, too.High contrast normally equals high energy, but here the conser-
vative dark blue (think winter) mitigates that somewhat.
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Cold Moving toward yellow is a cool mix of blues and
greens; the greens share warm yellows with the photo, while
the blues provide the ice. Blue dominates, keeping the overalleffect cold. The colors shown here have similar value and
therefore low contrast.
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Cool Closer to yellow, the palette is warmer still. These are
the colors of springtime, cool and refreshingbut with sun in
the sky! Green dominates. Green has a lot of yellow in common
with the photo, yet the aqua blue keeps the effect cool.
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Warm Here, all the colors are yellow-green, a mono-
chromatic palette that has the most color in common with
the photo and yields the warmest image; it doesnt really
cool the skyline very much.
Theres a lot more to
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Analogous (side by side) tints with
very low contrast are soft and
touchable. Think baby products.
Photo stands out against light
tints, which recede. Yellow city
color connects head to photo.
Dusty, dark-light monochrome is
handsome; identical opposite cor-
ners act as a frame.
Low-contrast green-blue and light
blue harmonize; light green and
white cool the headline.
Tone down the color
Less saturated colors (more black or white and less hue) yield quieter, more professionalpalettes. Quantity matters; the more of a color, the greater its influence.
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How to cool a hot photo 11of12
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Color wheel
Before & Afters color
wheel is an abbreviated
version of the model
in Bride M. Whelans
book, Color Harmony 2,
a digest-size reference
work that also includes a brief intro-
duction to color theory and plenty of
color examples with CMYK mixes. Its
strength is its brevity. Very handy.
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Before & After magazine
Before & After has been sharing its practical approach
to graphic design since 1990. Because our modern world
has made designers of us all (ready or not), Before &
After is dedicated to making graphic design understand-
able, useful and even fun for everyone.
John McWade Publisher and creative director
Gaye McWade Associate publisher
Vincent Pascual Staff designerDexter Mark Abellera Staff designer
Before & After magazine
323 Lincoln Street, Roseville, CA 95678
Telephone 916-784-3880
Fax 916-784-3995
E-mail [email protected]
www http://www.bamagazine.com
Copyright 2006 Before & After magazine
ISSN 1049-0035. All rights reserved
You may pass along a free copy of this article to others
by clicking here. You may not alter this article, and you
may not charge for it. You may quote brief sections
for review; please credit Before & After magazine, and
let us know. To link Before & After magazine to your
Web site, use this URL: http://www.bamagazine.com.
For all other permissions, please contact us.
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1of6
How
tocoolahotphoto0472
0472How
tocoolahotphoto
H
ow
tocool
ahotpho
to
Whenyourphotocantbechan
ged,
surroundit
withcoolcolor.
Thecolorwhee
lisan
artificialdeviceth
ats
goodbutnotperfect
colorsinnaturea
rent
soevenlydistribu
ted
whosepurposeisto
showcolorrelationships.
Alsoonthewhee
lare
values(dark-light
)and
temperature.
Whew!Youcanalmostfeeltheheat.Reds,
orange
s,yellowsandgoldsradiatefrom
everym
olecule;eventhewaterishot.San
Diego,
thatfamouslybalmycit
y,neverlooked
likethisinreallife.Butourassignmentis
tocrea
teabrochurecoverfora
nupcoming
conference(orforanyeventin
whichthecity
itselfis
partoftheattraction),andthishot,
monot
oneskylineisthephoto
theywant.
Sothe
challengeis,howdowe
coolitoff,so
visitorswontcomeexpectingt
oswelter?The
answerisfoundonthecolorw
heelbetween
iceblueandyellow,intheturq
uoiseblues
andverdantgreensofspringtime.Watch.
Hot
Cold
Cool
Warm
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2of6
Howtocoolahotphoto0472
0472Howtocoolah
otphoto
Firststep:Findth
ecolorpaletteinyour
photo
Everyphotohasanaturalcolorpalette;firs
tstepistofinditandor
ganizeit.Zoomin
onyourphoto,and
youllbeastonishedby
howmanycolorsyousee.
First,reducethephotot
oa
manageablenumberofc
olors;
theeasiestwayistocre
ate
amosaicusingPhotosho
ps
Mosaicfilter(Filter>Pixe
late>
Mosaic).Workingfromthebig-
gestareas(sky,skyline,water)
tothesmallest,extractcolors
withtheeyedroppertoo
l.For
contrast,pickupdark,m
edium
andlightpixelsofeachcolor.
Thenthisisimportant
sort
yourselectionsbycolor
and
eachcolorbyvalue(darkto
light).Thisletsyouseee
very
colorinrelationtotheo
thers.
Itsobviousjustbylooki
ngthat
thispaletteisverynarro
w.
Skylinedark
Skylinelight
Water
Sky
Locateyourcolorsonthewheel
Tofindcompatible
colors,wefirstneedtoknowtherelationshipofourcolorsto
othersonthewhee
l.Workingbyeye(thew
heelsnotexact,remember),locateyour
swatchesbyhue(color)andvalue.
Allthecolorsinthisimageareintheyellow-
orange,orange-redrange
,quiteunusual.Thesky
issomewhatyellower,someshadesaredarker
thanourchart,butthisisthezone.
Shade
Hue
Tint
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magazine.com
3of6
How
tocoolahotphoto0472
0472How
tocoolah
otphoto
Acolorincommon
Addingyellow
to
blueyieldsthecoolrange;the
se
arethecolorsofw
ater,new
growth,springtime.
Theyarepeacefulcolors,tranquilandrefreshin
g.
Aswithamonoch
romaticpalette,allhuesthat
share
acolorblue,inthiscasecoordinatenaturally.Any
colorinthisrange
willworkwithanyother.
Tintsandshades
Colorismadedarkerorl
ighterbyaddingblack(ashad
e)
orwhite(atint).Because
theyarecolorneutral,black
and
whitedonotchangethe
hue.Asaresult,anyonecolor
plusitsowntintsandsh
adesalwayscoordinatenatur
ally.
Suchapaletteiscalledm
onochromatic.Blueandorange
areopposites,orcomplements,asshownabove.
Whatweknow
Ourphotoisfullof
colorsintheorangeran
ge,andverywarm.Orangesopposite
orcomplementisblue,thecoldestcolor.
Letsstartthere.
Colorthebrochur
e
Itstimetotaketha
thotphotoandsubmer
geitincoolcolors.Ford
epth,coolnessand
beauty,twocolorsarebetterthanone,and
threecolorsarebettert
hantwo.
IceAllbluemonochromaticpalett
eisverycoldandhasvery
h
ighvaluecontrastwithyellow-ora
nge.Blueandorangehave
n
ocolorincommonandthereforehavehighcolorcontrast,too.
H
ighcontrastnormallyequalshigh
energy,butheretheconser-
v
ativedarkblue(thinkwinter)mitig
atesthatsomewhat.
CITIP
LAN
20
06
SAND
IEGO
ConferenceGuide
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www.cp06.org
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0472How
tocoolah
otphoto
CITIP
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August1518,2006
www.cp06.org
ColdMovingtowardyellowisacoolmixofbluesand
greens;thegreenssharewarmyellowswiththephoto,while
thebluesprovidetheice.Bluedom
inates,keepingtheoverall
effectcold.Thecolorsshownhere
havesimilarvalueand
thereforelowcontrast.
CITIP
LAN
2006
SAND
IEGO
ConferenceGuide
ConventionofCityPlanners
August1518,2006
www.cp06.org
C
ool
Closertoyellow,thepalette
iswarmerstill.Theseare
thecolorsofspringtime,coolandrefreshingbutwithsunin
thesky!Greendominates.Greenh
asalotofyellowincommon
withthephoto,yettheaquabluek
eepstheeffectcool.
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|www.b
a
magazin
e.c
om
5of
6
How
tocoolahotphoto0472
0472How
tocoolah
otphoto
CITIP
LAN
2006
SAND
IEGO
ConferenceGuide
ConventionofCityPlanner
s
August1518,2006
www.cp06.org
W
arm
Here
,all
thecolors
are
yello
w-gre
en
,am
on
o-
c
hrom
aticpale
ttethath
asthem
os
tcolorin
comm
onwith
theph
otoan
dyield
sthew
arm
estim
age;it
doesntre
ally
c
oolthesk
ylin
ev
erym
uch.
CITIPLAN
2006
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SANDIEGO
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ferenceGuide
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.cp06.org
CITIPLAN
2
006
SANDIEGO
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August1518,2
006
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Analogous(sid
ebyside)tintswith
verylowcontrastaresoftand
touchable.Thin
kbabyproducts.
Photostandsoutagainstlight
tints,wh
ichrecede.Yellowcity
colorco
nnectsheadtophoto.
D
usty,dark-lightmonochromeis
handsome;identicaloppositecor-
nersactasaframe.
Low-contrastgreen-blueand
light
blueharmonize;lightgreena
nd
whitecooltheheadline.
Tonedowntheco
lor
Lesssaturatedcolo
rs(moreblackorwhiteandlesshue)yieldquieter,moreprofessional
palettes.Quantitym
atters;themoreofaco
lor,thegreateritsinflue
nce.
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0472How
tocoolah
otphoto
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akinggraphicdesignunderstand
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Colorwheel
Before&Afterscolor
wheelisan
abbreviated
versionofthemodel
inBrideM.Whelans
book,Color
Harmony2,
adigest-sizereference
workthatalsoincludesabriefintro-
ductiontocolortheoryand
plentyof
colorexampleswithCMYK
mixes.Its
strengthisitsbrevity.Veryhandy.