Creating Color Palettes with Adobe Color CC
When starting out, most of our home DIY projects stem from a set of colors we have set in our minds that we envision redoing our interior settings with. We're all about mood, and getting down to the nitty gritty, in terms of having closure with specific colors, can be a challenge.
Going in blindly, there's just too many colors out there to choose from!
Picture the paint department of your local hardware store: the wall of color swatches available for your perusal is a seemingly endless rainbow of hues.
By nature, I'm no fan of having an infinite amount of choices presented to me when having to make a decision on anything. In fact, it ends up being a turn off to me, and I tend to avoid it, altogether.
Even with color swatches, it shouldn't have to be like that!
All I'm looking for when I want to begin execution on a design project is to look for the short cuts, so to speak; and in the case of choosing colors, just a few really strong or dominant colors to help bring my idea to life, and guide my project from just a thought, in my mind or on paper, to an actual project!
In order to do that, I don't want to do the guess work, and I need a color wheel, or color palette, that works like a rubric or guide for me.
Coming up with that desired set of colors can be a challenge, but definitely isn't an impossible feat to conquer, as there are tons of tools within reach, to if not execute the project, at least initiate action in the pre-planning stages.
So today, I'd like to bring your attention to Creating Color Palettes with Adobe Color CC!
Adobe Color CC (formerly known as Adobe Kuler) is a fun and easy-to-use tool to help give even the beginning decorator or designer a bit of a taster in to seeing and understanding color schemes.
Here's what you'll find yourself working with from the start:
For this example, I'm going to model our Prism Waters Outdoor Throw Pillow style from our New Outdoor & Patio section in our shop, to help show how this works:
Whatever your starting point image, you'll want to upload the file first, so that Adobe Color CC can render the results.
In the upper right corner of your browser window, there's a little camera icon.
I've highlighted it in yellow, in the screen capture below. Just click on that icon, and your finder or files menu will appear.
Choose an image to upload, and hit Enter! Adobe Color CC will then process and render the image to give you your color wheel, or color palette, mockup.
Again, for our example, we're using the pillow, as mentioned above.
Below is the result that Adobe Color CC has presented us with:
Mind you, the gray color to the bottom right in the color palette Adobe Color CC is presenting to us is the result of the product background for the pillow from our initial upload.
If we drag the little circle in the top right of the image (indicating the gray color) inward to rest atop an area of the pillow, our color palette changes slightly, as seen in the bottom right corner.
The ability to drag and alter color is something handy to keep in mind, if from the onset, the results of the color palette that Adobe Color CC presents to you are not winning you over just yet!
At the very least, this process gives us a starting point to consider. For example, if we wanted to model the color of our interiors based off of this one throw pillow style, Adobe Color CC gives us an easy to reference color palette, pinpointing the pillows highest points of color saturation, giving us a simple and straightforward color palette to work with.
Here's just a few more examples to help model some of the differences in how Adobe Color CC pinpoints color:
We'll use our Golden Palm Outdoor Throw Pillow style here:
...and our Sand Key Palms Outdoor Throw Pillow here:
Our Blue Ocean Surf Outdoor Throw Pillow here:
...and our Strelitzia Outdoor Throw Pillow here:
In the end, with color palette in hand, this simple color rendering tool of Adobe Color CC can help to kickstart your design or renovation project by making the task of choosing colors a whole lot easier, allowing you to make a bold statement for your living spaces, especially when frequented by and hosting or entertaining family and friends!
Stumped on color? Have you tried Adobe Color CC to help render color for your DIY home projects?
