How to Pick Colours for a Duotone Image
A duotone can make a plain photo look designed, but only if the two colours work together.
What is the Duotone Image Effect?
A duotone maps dark parts of a picture to one colour and light parts to another, with smooth steps in between. The tool shows exactly what pure shadow, midtone and highlight become for your two colours, and the browser preview applies that mapping to a gradient so you can judge the pairing. Your own photo is not uploaded here, so the preview is a colour check, not a finished edit.
How to use it
- Pick a dark colour for shadows
- Pick a light colour for highlights
- Check the midtone and preview the pairing
Worked example
Dark #0b2a4a to light #ffd166 gives shadow #0b2a4a, midtone #857e58 and highlight #ffd166.
Should the two colours be close or far apart?
Far apart, because the effect depends on contrast. Close colours wash out into a single flat tone.
Frequently asked questions
What makes a good duotone pair?
Strong contrast between the two colours, so shadows and highlights stay easy to tell apart.
Is a duotone the same as a filter?
It is a colour mapping, not a texture or lighting filter, so it works best on pictures with clear light and shade.