Freeware

Kuler: Finally, An Easy Way to Pick Colors

By EAN ⋅ August 15, 2007 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

Developer: Adobe Labs
Version: N/A
Price: Free
Check out Kuler Here.

Continuing the week of art + design brings us to a handy color picker called Kuler. This is a site created by Adobe Labs to help people create their own color schemes for programs like Photoshop [review], Illustrator, Inkscape, and the GIMP [review]. And I must say that it is a very handy tool that is perfectly suited for designers of all types.

Over the years, I’ve found that whenever I have to design something - especially if that something is a website - picking the colors is one of the most annoying parts of the process. I’ve not had an art class since I was in junior high, so all of that color theory stuff that they teach professional designers has never had a chance to sink in. So I need a tool to help me get my colors corresponding with each other.

Now this is where Kuler comes in. Thank goodness there’s a great color wheel tool built into Kuler to help me pick colors that actually work together. I can even set the color rule to whatever I choose - making it easy for a non designer like myself to choose similar colors in just a couple of minutes starting with a single base color.

But, even if you’re too lazy to come up with your own color scheme, there are quite a few user submissions available too. They’re all free to use and some of them are damn good. You’ve got everything from (American) football team uniforms to car paint schemes to the colors of fruits and vegetables. But be careful, you could easily spend hours here without knowing it.

The color picking portion of Kuler is just the beginning, though, as Adobe is using this new web app as a platform for all kinds of other cool stuff. Developers can take advantage of the Kuler API and end users can benefit by using Adobe’s new AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime, formerly Apollo) [review] to run Kuler right from the desktop without ever having to visit the website. Think of it like a widget. Very cool stuff indeed.

All that’s that. If you’ve got designer’s block and can’t think of a color scheme for your next project, this is the site for you. If you’re just getting into designing and you’re having a hard time coming up colors that work well together, check out Kuler right now. And for the rest of us, Kuler is still an awesome site to check out some beautiful colors. Hell, you could even use Kuler to pick out paint for the rooms in your home or find a good color for your next tattoo.

Check out Kuler for Yourself.

- Eric Norton