Friedbeef’s Tech

Whether it’s deciding on the colors of my room, web page, or posters, I find that coming up with a color scheme can be quite a challenge.  For all you design-challenged-individuals (like me!), here are 5 free tools which will help you make the right decisions when it comes to colors.

1. Derive a color scheme based on any image

Designing a poster and want to make sure your background matches your pictures well?  You can upload your the image to Color Palette Generator and come up with a set of colors that matches it perfectly.  Alternatively, if the image you have is already on the web, you can point to it using another similar tool, or use Colr.org for Flickr images.

2. Search for color schemes based on text searches

Want a color scheme based on a concept and need a starting point?  Just type in your idea and let yahoo pick a color scheme for you.  

3. Discover and discuss color schemes with other people

Kuler is an online community for designers set up by Adobe which focuses on one thing – colors!  Here you’ll find a lot of interesting color schemes that stand out from typical palettes.  With the community aspect in place, you’ll be able to discuss, comment on and rate themes as well.

4. Come up with safe colors for your web page

Not every color scheme you come up with may be fully supported by all systems and browsers.  4096 Color Wheel lets you pick the color you need, then comes up with ‘web-safe’ HTML so you can implement it properly.  Also, if you want to make sure the text on your web page stands out or goes well with the background without compromising readability, use the Accessibility Color Wheel to help you find the perfect blend.

5. Test web page contrast by converting it to grayscale

Relying on colors to determine page visibility and contrast can be misleading.  Converting the colors to their grayscale equivalents is a more reliable method. By removing color’s influence, you’ll better find true visual contrast.  To do this, you can convert any web page into grayscale using Graybit.

What other design tools do you like?  Tell us in the comments!