How to cool a hot photo When your photo can t be changed, surround t wth cool color. Contnued Contnued How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo When your photo can t be changed, surround t wth cool color Whew! You can almost feel the heat. Reds, oranges, yellows and golds radate from every molecule; even the water s hot. San Dego, that famously balmy cty, never looked lke ths n real lfe. But our assgnment s to create a brochure cover for an upcomng conference (or for any event n whch the cty tself s part of the attracton), and ths hot, monotone skylne s the photo they want. So the challenge s, how do we cool t off, so vstors won t come expectng to swelter? The answer s found on the color wheel between ce blue and yellow, n the turquose blues and verdant greens of sprngtme. Watch. Cool Cold Warm Hot The color wheel s an artfcal devce that s good but not perfect colors n nature aren t so evenly dstrbuted whose purpose s to show color relatonshps. Also on the wheel are values (dark-lght) and temperature. 2 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 3 of 12 Frst step: Fnd the color palette n your photo Every photo has a natural color palette; frst step s to fnd t and organze t. Zoom n on your photo, and you ll be astonshed by how many colors you see. Frst, reduce the photo to a manageable number of colors; the easest way s to create a mosac usng Photoshop s Mosac flter (Flter>Pxelate> Mosac). Workng from the bggest areas (sky, skylne, water) to the smallest, extract colors wth the eyedropper tool. For contrast, pck up dark, medum and lght pxels of each color. Then ths s mportant sort your selectons by color and each color by value (dark to lght). Ths lets you see every color n relaton to the others. It s obvous just by lookng that ths palette s very narrow. Sky Skylne dark Skylne lght Water 3 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 4 of 12 Locate your colors on the wheel To fnd compatble colors, we frst need to know the relatonshp of our colors to others on the wheel. Workng by eye (the wheel s not exact, remember), locate your swatches by hue (color) and value. Tnt Hue All the colors n ths mage are n the yelloworange, orange-red range, qute unusual. The sky s somewhat yellower, some shades are darker than our chart, but ths s the zone. Shade 4 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 5 of 12 What we know Our photo s full of colors n the orange range, and very warm. Orange s opposte or complement s blue, the coldest color. Let s start there. Tnts and shades Color s made darker or lghter by addng black (a shade) or whte (a tnt). Because they are color neutral, black and whte do not change the hue. As a result, any one color plus ts own tnts and shades always coordnate naturally. Such a palette s called monochromatc. Blue and orange are oppostes, or complements, as shown above. A color n common Addng yellow to blue yelds the cool range; these are the colors of water, new growth, sprngtme. They are peaceful colors, tranqul and refreshng. As wth a monochromatc palette, all hues that share a color blue, n ths case coordnate naturally. Any color n ths range wll work wth any other. 5 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 6 of 12 Color the brochure It s tme to take that hot photo and submerge t n cool colors. For depth, coolness and beauty, two colors are better than one, and three colors are better than two. Ice All blue monochromatc palette s very cold and has very hgh value contrast wth yellow-orange. Blue and orange have no color n common and therefore have hgh color contrast, too. Hgh contrast normally equals hgh energy, but here the conservatve dark blue (thnk wnter) mtgates that somewhat. August 15 18, 6 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 7 of 12 Cold Movng toward yellow s a cool mx of blues and greens; the greens share warm yellows wth the photo, whle the blues provde the ce. Blue domnates, keepng the overall effect cold. The colors shown here have smlar value and therefore low contrast. August 15 18, 7 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 8 of 12 Cool Closer to yellow, the palette s warmer stll. These are the colors of sprngtme, cool and refreshng but wth sun n the sky! Green domnates. Green has a lot of yellow n common wth the photo, yet the aqua blue keeps the effect cool. August 15 18, 8 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 9 of 12 Warm Here, all the colors are yellow-green, a monochromatc palette that has the most color n common wth the photo and yelds the warmest mage; t doesn t really cool the skylne very much. August 15 18, 9 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 10 of 12 Tone down the color Less saturated colors (more black or whte and less hue) yeld queter, more professonal palettes. Quantty matters; the more of a color, the greater ts nfluence. August 15 18, August 15 18, August 15 18, August 15 18, Analogous (sde by sde) tnts wth very low contrast are soft and touchable. Thnk baby products. Photo stands out aganst lght tnts, whch recede. Yellow cty color connects head to photo. Dusty, dark-lght monochrome s handsome; dentcal opposte corners act as a frame. Low-contrast green-blue and lght blue harmonze; lght green and whte cool the headlne. 10 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 11 of 12 Artcle resources 1a 1b 1c August 15 18, August 15 18, Typefaces 1 (a c) Helvetca Neue 25 ltra Lght a) 41 pt, b) 72 pt, c) 33 pt 2 Helvetca Neue 75 Bold 8/8.5 pt 3 Helvetca Neue 35 Thn 8/8.5 pt 14 15 16 17 C65 M40 Y0 K0 C60 M0 Y55 K0 C60 M0 Y25 K0 C12 M0 Y20 K0 5 7 8 9 10 7 Color 18 C25 M0 Y10 K0 2 3 August 15 18, 4 5 6 August 15 18, 11 12 13 August 15 18, 14 15 16 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 C100 M60 Y0 K45 C100 M60 Y0 K25 C30 M15 Y0 K0 C100 M0 Y40 K0 C100 M0 Y90 K0 C100 M0 Y40 K45 C60 M0 Y100 K10 C60 M0 Y100 K45 C60 M0 Y100 K0 19 C3 M31 Y80 K0 Color wheel Before & After s color wheel s an abbrevated verson of the model n Brde M. Whelan s book, Color Harmony 2, a dgest-sze reference work that also ncludes a bref ntroducton to color theory and plenty of color examples wth CMYK mxes. It s strength s ts brevty. Very handy. August 15 18, August 15 18, August 15 18, 13 C35 M0 Y60 K0 7 17 18 19 9 16 9 14 13 11 of 12 How to cool a hot photo 0472
How to cool a hot photo 12 of 12 Subscrbe to Before & After Subscrbe to Before & After, and become a more capable, confdent desgner for pennes per artcle. To learn more, go to http://www.bamagazne.com/subscrbe E-mal ths artcle To pass along a free copy of ths artcle to others, clck here. Jon our e-lst To be notfed by e-mal of new artcles as they become avalable, go to http://www.bamagazne.com/emal Before & After magazne Before & After has been sharng ts practcal approach to graphc desgn snce 1990. Because our modern world has made desgners of us all (ready or not), Before & After s dedcated to makng graphc desgn understandable, useful and even fun for everyone. John McWade Publsher and creatve drector Gaye McWade Assocate publsher Vncent Pascual Staff desgner Dexter Mark Abellera Staff desgner Before & After magazne 323 Lncoln Street, Rosevlle, CA 95678 Telephone 916-784-3880 Fax 916-784-3995 E-mal malbox@bamagazne.com www http://www.bamagazne.com Copyrght Before & After magazne ISSN 1049-0035. All rghts reserved You may pass along a free copy of ths artcle to others by clckng here. You may not alter ths artcle, and you may not charge for t. You may quote bref sectons for revew; please credt Before & After magazne, and let us know. To lnk Before & After magazne to your Web ste, use ths RL: http://www.bamagazne.com. For all other permssons, please contact us. 12 of 12 Prntng formats How to cool a hot photo 0472
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How to cool a hot photo When your photo can t be changed, surround t wth cool color. Whew! You can almost feel the heat. Reds, oranges, yellows and golds radate from every molecule; even the water s hot. San Dego, that famously balmy cty, never looked lke ths n real lfe. But our assgnment s to create a brochure cover for an upcomng conference (or for any event n whch the cty tself s part of the attracton), and ths hot, monotone skylne s the photo they want. So the challenge s, how do we cool t off, so vstors won t come expectng to swelter? The answer s found on the color wheel between ce blue and yellow, n the turquose blues and verdant greens of sprngtme. Watch. Cool Cold Warm Hot The color wheel s an artfcal devce that s good but not perfect colors n nature aren t so evenly dstrbuted whose purpose s to show color relatonshps. Also on the wheel are values (dark-lght) and temperature. 0472 How to cool a hot photo Before&After www.bamagazne.com 1 of 6 How to cool a hot photo 0472
Frst step: Fnd the color palette n your photo Every photo has a natural color palette; frst step s to fnd t and organze t. Zoom n on your photo, and you ll be astonshed by how many colors you see. Frst, reduce the photo to a manageable number of colors; the easest way s to create a mosac usng Photoshop s Mosac flter (Flter>Pxelate> Mosac). Workng from the bggest areas (sky, skylne, water) to the smallest, extract colors wth the eyedropper tool. For contrast, pck up dark, medum and lght pxels of each color. Then ths s mportant sort your selectons by color and each color by value (dark to lght). Ths lets you see every color n relaton to the others. It s obvous just by lookng that ths palette s very narrow. Sky Skylne dark Skylne lght Water Locate your colors on the wheel To fnd compatble colors, we frst need to know the relatonshp of our colors to others on the wheel. Workng by eye (the wheel s not exact, remember), locate your swatches by hue (color) and value. Tnt All the colors n ths mage are n the yelloworange, orange-red range, qute unusual. The sky s somewhat yellower, some shades are darker than our chart, but ths s the zone. Hue Shade 0472 How to cool a hot photo Before&After www.bamagazne.com How to cool a hot photo 0472 2 of 6
What we know Our photo s full of colors n the orange range, and very warm. Orange s opposte or complement s blue, the coldest color. Let s start there. Tnts and shades Color s made darker or lghter by addng black (a shade) or whte (a tnt). Because they are color neutral, black and whte do not change the hue. As a result, any one color plus ts own tnts and shades always coordnate naturally. Such a palette s called monochromatc. Blue and orange are oppostes, or complements, as shown above. A color n common Addng yellow to blue yelds the cool range; these are the colors of water, new growth, sprngtme. They are peaceful colors, tranqul and refreshng. As wth a monochromatc palette, all hues that share a color blue, n ths case coordnate naturally. Any color n ths range wll work wth any other. Color the brochure It s tme to take that hot photo and submerge t n cool colors. For depth, coolness and beauty, two colors are better than one, and three colors are better than two. Ice All blue monochromatc palette s very cold and has very hgh value contrast wth yellow-orange. Blue and orange have no color n common and therefore have hgh color contrast, too. Hgh contrast normally equals hgh energy, but here the conservatve dark blue (thnk wnter) mtgates that somewhat. August 15 18, 0472 How to cool a hot photo Before&After www.bamagazne.com 3 of 6 How to cool a hot photo 0472
Cold Movng toward yellow s a cool mx of blues and greens; the greens share warm yellows wth the photo, whle the blues provde the ce. Blue domnates, keepng the overall effect cold. The colors shown here have smlar value and therefore low contrast. August 15 18, Cool Closer to yellow, the palette s warmer stll. These are the colors of sprngtme, cool and refreshng but wth sun n the sky! Green domnates. Green has a lot of yellow n common wth the photo, yet the aqua blue keeps the effect cool. August 15 18, 0472 How to cool a hot photo Before&After www.bamagazne.com 4 of 6 How to cool a hot photo 0472
Warm Here, all the colors are yellow-green, a monochromatc palette that has the most color n common wth the photo and yelds the warmest mage; t doesn t really cool the skylne very much. August 15 18, Tone down the color Less saturated colors (more black or whte and less hue) yeld queter, more professonal palettes. Quantty matters; the more of a color, the greater ts nfluence. August 15 18, August 15 18, August 15 18, August 15 18, Analogous (sde by sde) tnts wth very low contrast are soft and touchable. Thnk baby products. Photo stands out aganst lght tnts, whch recede. Yellow cty color connects head to photo. Dusty, dark-lght monochrome s handsome; dentcal opposte corners act as a frame. Low-contrast green-blue and lght blue harmonze; lght green and whte cool the headlne. 0472 How to cool a hot photo Before&After www.bamagazne.com 5 of 6 How to cool a hot photo 0472
Artcle resources 1a 1b 1c 2 3 August 15 18, 4 5 6 August 15 18, 5 7 8 9 10 7 August 15 18, 11 12 13 August 15 18, August 15 18, 14 15 16 Typefaces 1 (a c) Helvetca Neue 25 ltra Lght a) 41 pt, b) 72 pt, c) 33 pt 2 Helvetca Neue 75 Bold 8/8.5 pt 3 Helvetca Neue 35 Thn 8/8.5 pt Color 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 C100 M60 Y0 K45 C100 M60 Y0 K25 C30 M15 Y0 K0 C100 M0 Y40 K0 C100 M0 Y90 K0 C100 M0 Y40 K45 C60 M0 Y100 K10 C60 M0 Y100 K45 C60 M0 Y100 K0 14 15 16 17 18 19 C65 M40 Y0 K0 C60 M0 Y55 K0 C60 M0 Y25 K0 C12 M0 Y20 K0 C25 M0 Y10 K0 C3 M31 Y80 K0 Color wheel Before & After s color wheel s an abbrevated verson of the model n Brde M. Whelan s book, Color Harmony 2, a dgest-sze reference work that also ncludes a bref ntroducton to color theory and plenty of color examples wth CMYK mxes. It s strength s ts brevty. Very handy. August 15 18, August 15 18, August 15 18, 13 C35 M0 Y60 K0 7 17 18 19 9 16 9 14 13 Subscrbe to Before & After Subscrbe to Before & After, and become a more capable, confdent desgner for pennes per artcle. To learn more, go to http://www.bamagazne.com/subscrbe E-mal ths artcle To pass along a free copy of ths artcle to others, clck here. Jon our e-lst To be notfed by e-mal of new artcles as they become avalable, go to http://www.bamagazne.com/emal Before & After magazne Before & After has been sharng ts practcal approach to graphc desgn snce 1990. Because our modern world has made desgners of us all (ready or not), Before & After s dedcated to makng graphc desgn understandable, useful and even fun for everyone. John McWade Publsher and creatve drector Gaye McWade Assocate publsher Vncent Pascual Staff desgner Dexter Mark Abellera Staff desgner Before & After magazne 323 Lncoln Street, Rosevlle, CA 95678 Telephone 916-784-3880 Fax 916-784-3995 E-mal malbox@bamagazne.com www http://www.bamagazne.com Copyrght Before & After magazne ISSN 1049-0035. All rghts reserved You may pass along a free copy of ths artcle to others by clckng here. You may not alter ths artcle, and you may not charge for t. You may quote bref sectons for revew; please credt Before & After magazne, and let us know. To lnk Before & After magazne to your Web ste, use ths RL: http://www.bamagazne.com. For all other permssons, please contact us. 0472 How to cool a hot photo Before&After www.bamagazne.com 6 of 6 How to cool a hot photo 0472