As web designers, we can develop a complimentary color palette through all images on a web page to provide visual unity. With a few minor tweaks in Photoshop or any other graphic program, you can really pull a web site design together, improving your site in a polished, subtle way. Here's one way it can be done, using Photoshop or other graphics programs. We will use this web design for a real estate web site as our sample:

In this web site, the images I selected all had nice tan tones to complement the color scheme of the site. However, I wanted each image to also have the same accent color. I decided to use purple as the accent color, providing a pleasing contrast to the tan shades. However, only one of the original images used on this site had purple in it--the large image of the sofa in the left side of the web page. I wanted to use the purple in the quilt on the couch throughout the design. To unify the color scheme in all the images on this page, I manipulated each image to add purple to it in Photoshop.

First, I added purple to the shadows in the photo of the vase, giving it a purple cast. The BEFORE picture here shows the original image. Using the color tools in Photoshop, I added purple to the shadows. Notice how it now matches the graphic of the sofa in the AFTER graphic! Next, I selected the round pillow in the second image (the chaise) and used the Hue, Saturation Tool in Photoshop to re-color it purple. Also, I also subtlety changed the color tint in the wall in the extreme left side of the photo from a tint of blue to a tint of purple. Finally, I selected the slippers in the third image, changing them from black to purple.

The end result; the images all look as if they were shot by the same photographer for this project. A unified, polished, high concept look with just a few minor tweaks of color!

Key Points From This Article:

• Use Photoshop or other graphic tools to select, add and repeat key colors in graphics and photos used in a web page design. This unifies the color scheme within all images on the page.

Real Estate Website: Castlepoint Realty