Colour Harmony Schemes, With a Prompt for Each

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Colour harmony

The ways to choose a set of colours, and the wording that gets each one.

A harmony is a rule for picking colours, decided before anything is drawn. It is the cheapest decision in this catalogue and the one that changes a picture most: the same layout in complementary orange and blue and in three analogous greens is two different pieces of work. Every scheme here is a relationship you can check, not a matter of taste, and every one of them carries the wording that gets it out of a model.

Relationships on the wheel

5

Five schemes defined by where the colours sit relative to each other. The further apart, the louder.

Complementary: Two colours from opposite sides of the wheel, and nothing else.
Complementary
Two colours from opposite sides of the wheel, and nothing else.
Split-Complementary: One colour against the two sitting either side of its opposite.
Split-Complementary
One colour against the two sitting either side of its opposite.
Analogous: Three or four neighbours on the wheel, with no opposition anywhere.
Analogous
Three or four neighbours on the wheel, with no opposition anywhere.
Triadic: Three colours spaced evenly around the wheel, balanced and loud.
Triadic
Three colours spaced evenly around the wheel, balanced and loud.
Tetradic: Two complementary pairs at once. The richest scheme, and the hardest to hold.
Tetradic
Two complementary pairs at once. The richest scheme, and the hardest to hold.

One hue, or none

2

Two schemes that give up hue contrast entirely and make value do all the work.

Monochromatic: One hue, five values. Everything separates by light and dark alone.
Monochromatic
One hue, five values. Everything separates by light and dark alone.
Achromatic: No hue at all. Black, white and the greys between them.
Achromatic
No hue at all. Black, white and the greys between them.

Rules you set yourself

3

Three schemes that are not wheel relationships at all. They are constraints, and they are the ones most used in practice.

Limited Palette: A small fixed set of colours, chosen freely and then strictly obeyed.
Limited Palette
A small fixed set of colours, chosen freely and then strictly obeyed.
Warm and Cool Split: The picture divided by temperature rather than by hue. Warm light, cool shadow.
Warm and Cool Split
The picture divided by temperature rather than by hue. Warm light, cool shadow.
Neutral and One Accent: A neutral picture with one saturated colour, placed where you want the eye.
Neutral and One Accent
A neutral picture with one saturated colour, placed where you want the eye.

Run one of them

Copy a palette into a prompt and pay for that one run. No subscription.

Open an image model

Other palette groups

Period palettesThe sets of colours that date a picture, and the wording for each one.15 period palettesScreen palettesThe palettes from film and television, and the wording for each one.12 screen palettesNature and materialPalettes taken from landscapes and materials, with the words for each.12 natural palettesFunctional palettesPalettes chosen to do a job, with the real numbers behind them.10 functional palettes
Print stylesDesigning the whole poster rather than choosing its colours? The same reference, for ink on paper.

Start from how loud the picture has to be. Complementary and triadic are loud and read from a distance. Analogous and monochromatic are quiet and reward a close look. Neutral plus one accent is the choice when exactly one thing matters.