Home › Image Tools › Duotone Generator
Duotone Generator
Give any photo the bold two-color duotone look used on posters, album covers and websites. Pick one of 16 presets or your own shadow and highlight colors, add an optional midtone, adjust intensity and contrast, and download a full-size PNG or JPG.
Advertisement
Advertisement
How to use the Duotone Generator
- Add a photo: drop, paste or choose an image. A sample photo is loaded so you can try presets right away.
- Pick a preset: each thumbnail shows your own photo in that color pair.
- Customize the Shadows and Highlights colors, swap them with ⇄, or tick the midtone option for a tritone.
- Fine-tune Intensity, Contrast and Brightness, and drag the before / after slider to compare.
- Download the result as PNG or JPG, or copy the color codes for your design.
How a duotone is calculated
Each pixel goes through three quick steps:
- Brightness: Y = 0.2126 × R + 0.7152 × G + 0.0722 × B (Rec. 709 luma weights, since the eye is most sensitive to green).
- Contrast and brightness: Y is stretched around mid-gray with the standard contrast factor F = 259 × (C + 255) ÷ (255 × (259 − C)), then shifted by the brightness value.
- Gradient map: the result t = Y ÷ 255 picks a color between the two inks: color = shadow + (highlight − shadow) × t. With a midtone, the first half of the range blends shadow → midtone and the second half midtone → highlight.
The Intensity slider mixes the duotone back with the original photo, so at 40–70 % you get a softer color-graded look that keeps some of the original colors.
Popular duotone color pairs
| Preset | Shadows | Highlights | Mood |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pop | #1E2A78 navy | #FF4D8D pink | Energetic, music and event posters |
| Citrus | #1B4332 deep green | #E9FF70 lime | Fresh, sporty, outdoor brands |
| Ocean | #03045E dark blue | #90E0EF aqua | Calm, tech, travel |
| Sunset | #3A0CA3 violet | #FFB703 amber | Warm, nostalgic, festival |
| Teal & Orange | #0F4C5C teal | #FB8B24 orange | Cinematic movie-poster look |
| Sepia | #2B1D0E brown | #F3E0C0 cream | Vintage, old photograph |
Design tips
- Keep it legible: the shadow color should be much darker than the highlight color, or the image loses its shape.
- Match your brand: use your brand's darkest color for shadows and its accent color for highlights to make a set of photos look consistent.
- Text on top: duotone photos make great backgrounds because the limited palette keeps overlaid text readable.
- Silhouettes pop: backlit subjects and high-contrast photos give the most graphic results.
Frequently asked questions
What is a duotone image?
A duotone is a picture made from just two colors: one replaces the dark tones and the other replaces the light tones, with smooth blends in between. The technique comes from two-ink printing and is now a popular graphic design style for posters, social media and websites.
How does this duotone generator work?
It converts each pixel to a brightness value (0.2126 R + 0.7152 G + 0.0722 B, the Rec. 709 luma formula) and then uses that brightness to pick a color on a gradient from your shadow color to your highlight color. This is the same gradient map technique used in professional photo editors.
Which colors make a good duotone?
Use a dark, saturated color for shadows and a light, bright color for highlights, ideally with clearly different hues, such as navy and pink or deep green and lime. If both colors are similar in brightness, the photo loses its detail.
What is a tritone?
A tritone adds a third color for the midtones, so the gradient goes from shadows through the midtone to the highlights. It gives richer, more painterly results. Tick Add a midtone color to try it.
Which photos work best?
Photos with strong contrast and a clear subject: portraits, silhouettes, architecture and landscapes. Flat, low-contrast photos look muddy; raise the Contrast slider to fix that.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The effect is calculated in your browser with the Canvas API at full resolution (up to 3000 pixels on the longest side). Nothing is sent to a server.
Related tools
Photo FiltersApply 27 one-click photo filters like Vintage, Noir and Teal & Orange with an intensity slider.Grayscale Image ConverterTurn color photos into black and white with luma, luminance or average methods and sepia.Glitch Image EffectAdd RGB split, scanlines, slice shifts and noise to a photo for a digital glitch look.Replace Color in ImageClick a color in a picture and swap it for a new color or transparency, keeping the shading.Background RemoverRemove image backgrounds automatically with AI.Make Image TransparentRemove a white or solid-color background and save a transparent PNG, right in your browser.Image to Text (OCR)Extract text from images, screenshots and photos with OCR in 25+ languages, right in your browser.Image CompressorShrink images to a target size like 100 KB.Image ResizerResize images to any size without losing quality.Compress Image to 20KBShrink any photo to under 20KB (or any target size).Compress Image to 100KBShrink any photo to under 100KB automatically, with the best quality that fits.Compress JPEG to 50KBShrink photos to under 50KB for forms, passports and exams.HEIC to JPGConvert iPhone HEIC photos to JPG.WEBP to JPGConvert WEBP images to JPG in bulk.PNG to JPGBatch convert PNG images to JPG with a background color.JPG to PNGBatch convert JPG images to PNG.Image CropperCrop images, including circle crops for profile pictures.Rotate & Flip ImageRotate images by any angle or mirror them, one or many at once.Meme GeneratorMake memes with classic templates and custom text.Collage MakerCombine photos into a grid collage.Add Watermark to PhotoAdd a text or logo watermark to one or many photos at once.Blur Image & Face Pixelate ToolBlur or pixelate faces, plates and backgrounds in a photo.Pixelate Image & Pixel Art ConverterTurn any picture into pixel art with retro palettes and dithering.Logo MakerDesign a text logo with fonts, icons and colors, then save SVG or PNG.Certificate MakerDesign certificates from templates and export one or many as PDF.WEBP to PNGConvert WEBP images to PNG, keeping transparency.SVG to PNGConvert SVG graphics to PNG or JPEG at any scale.PNG to ICOCreate multi-size favicon .ico files from PNG.GIF MakerTurn videos and images into GIFs, trim and compress.Business Card MakerDesign business cards and download a print-ready PDF.Flyer MakerDesign printable and social media flyers from free templates.Poster MakerDesign posters in A0–A5 and US sizes and download a print-ready PDF.Invitation Card MakerCreate printable birthday, wedding and party invitations for free.Color Palette GeneratorGenerate beautiful color palettes and export them.HEX to RGBConvert HEX colors to RGB and other formats.RGB to HEXConvert RGB to HEX with sliders, live swatch and one-click copy.HEX to HSLConvert HEX colors to HSL and back with interactive sliders.RGB to CMYK ConverterConvert RGB and HEX colors to CMYK for print, and back.Color Contrast CheckerCheck WCAG contrast ratios and find accessible text colors.Pantone to HEXLook up approximate HEX, RGB and CMYK values for Pantone colors.Color Name FinderFind the closest color name for any HEX or RGB color.AVIF to JPGConvert AVIF images to widely supported JPG.PNG & JPG to WEBPConvert PNG and JPG images to smaller WEBP files.Aspect Ratio CalculatorCalculate image sizes for 16:9, 4:3 and any ratio.Thumbnail Safe ZonePreview YouTube and TikTok thumbnail safe zones.Color Blindness SimulatorSee any image as people with protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia or achromatopsia see itAdd Text to ImageAdd styled text layers with outline and shadow to any photo, then downloadThumbnail MakerDesign 1280×720 YouTube thumbnails with templates, bold text and stickersImage Color PickerPick any pixel colour from an image and get HEX, RGB, HSL plus a paletteImage Border AdderAdd a border, rounded corners, matte and shadow to a photo onlineWallpaper GeneratorCreate gradient and pattern wallpapers sized for any phone, tablet or desktopColor Shades GeneratorTurn one HEX color into a 50-950 scale plus tints, shades and tones, ready to export.Round Corners ImageGive any picture rounded, circle or squircle corners and save a transparent PNG.Printable Calendar MakerMake a printable month or year calendar with holidays, then print or save PDF.YouTube Thumbnail GrabberPaste a YouTube link to get every thumbnail size, from HD 1280x720 down to 120x90.Tailwind Color GeneratorTurn one color into a full Tailwind 50–950 shade scale and export the config or CSS.Image Flipper & MirrorMirror photos horizontally or flip them vertically, one image or a whole batch.Printable Planner GeneratorDesign daily or weekly planner pages with your dates and colors, then print them as a PDF.CSS Gradient GeneratorDesign linear, radial and conic CSS gradients with draggable stops and export CSS or PNG.Graph Paper GeneratorMake printable square, dot, isometric or hex graph paper and download it as PDF, PNG or SVG.Color MixerMix two colors in sRGB, linear, OKLab or OKLCH, or blend them with Photoshop-style modes.Lined Paper GeneratorCreate printable lined paper: wide, college or handwriting ruling, Cornell notes, PDF or PNG.Random Color GeneratorGenerate random HEX colors one at a time or in batches, with hue, saturation and lightness ranges.Photo EditorEdit photos online: brightness, contrast, saturation, crop, rotate, flip and filters with undo.Chart MakerMake bar, line, area, pie and doughnut charts from a simple table and download PNG or SVG.Color WheelFind complementary, triadic, analogous and other color harmonies on an interactive wheel.Image SharpenerSharpen soft or slightly blurry photos with a real unsharp mask and before/after view.Venn Diagram MakerMake 2- or 3-circle Venn diagrams from lists; overlaps are found for you. Export PNG or SVG.Invert Image ColorsTurn any picture into a color negative, with R/G/B channel toggles and an intensity slider.Mind Map MakerBuild mind maps fast with keyboard shortcuts and auto layout, then export PNG, SVG or JSON.Image SplitterSplit an image into a rows × columns grid of tiles and download them one by one or as a ZIP.Org Chart MakerType an indented list of names and titles and get a clean org chart to download as PNG or SVG.Image CombinerCombine images side by side, stacked or in a grid, with spacing, background color and alignment.Timeline MakerCreate horizontal or vertical timelines from dated events with colors, then save PNG or SVG.Screenshot BeautifierPut screenshots on gradient backgrounds with padding, rounded corners, shadow and a browser frame.Gantt Chart MakerPlan tasks with dates, progress and dependencies on a Gantt chart, then export PNG or CSV.Image UpscalerEnlarge images 2×, 3× or 4× with Lanczos-3 or bicubic resampling and optional sharpening.Word Cloud GeneratorTurn any text into a word cloud in shapes like a heart or star, then save it as PNG or SVG.Image Metadata ViewerSee a photo's EXIF data: camera, lens, exposure, date and GPS location, then strip it in one click.Pie Chart MakerMake pie and donut charts with labels, percentages and a legend, then download PNG or SVG.Favicon GeneratorMake a favicon.ico, PNG icons, apple-touch-icon and web manifest from an image, text or emoji.Color PickerPick any color and get HEX, RGB, HSL, HSV and CMYK codes, shades and a screen eyedropper.HTML Color CodesAll 140 HTML color names with HEX and RGB codes, plus the 216 web-safe colors. Click to copy.Passport Photo MakerMake passport and visa photos for any country and print them on a 4x6 sheet.PNG to SVG ConverterConvert PNG or JPG images to scalable SVG vectors with color and detail control.EXIF RemoverRemove EXIF, GPS location and other metadata from JPG, PNG and WEBP photos.Image DPI ChangerChange the DPI of JPG and PNG images without re-encoding, and see the print size.Online PaintDraw and paint in your browser: brushes, shapes, fill bucket, text, undo and PNG export.Signature MakerDraw or type your signature and download it as a transparent PNG or SVG.Color Palette from ImageExtract the main colors of any photo as HEX codes, CSS variables and a palette PNG.Photo to SketchTurn any photo into a pencil, charcoal or color sketch in your browser and download it.Image ConverterConvert images between JPG, PNG, WEBP, AVIF, BMP, GIF and ICO in batches, right in your browser.HEIC to PNGConvert iPhone HEIC and HEIF photos to lossless PNG in batches, with ZIP download.GIF Frame ExtractorSplit an animated GIF into PNG frames with delays, a sprite sheet and ZIP download.GIF to MP4Convert animated GIFs to MP4 video with loops, scaling and background color, in your browser.ICO to PNGExtract every size from ICO and CUR icon files and save them as PNG images or a ZIP.Pixel Art MakerDraw pixel art on an 8 to 64 px grid with palettes, fill and mirror, then export PNG or SVG.Quote Image MakerTurn a quote into a shareable image for Instagram, Stories or X with backgrounds and fonts.Social Media Image ResizerResize photos for Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest in one go.Profile Picture MakerMake a round or square profile picture with a ring border and color or gradient background.Before and After Image MakerCombine two photos into a labeled before and after image or an animated slider video.Image Diff CheckerCompare two images and highlight every changed pixel, with % difference and a swipe slider.Photo Frame MakerPut photos in polaroid, film strip, gallery, rounded or shadow frames with a caption.Device Mockup GeneratorPut a screenshot into a phone, tablet, laptop, monitor or browser frame and download a PNG.Emoji to ImageTurn any emoji into a PNG image from 64 to 1024 px, transparent or on a color, in batch.Text to ImageTurn text into a PNG image with your font, size, colors, padding, alignment and wrapping.Seamless Pattern GeneratorMake seamless dot, stripe, wave, grid, zigzag and check patterns. Export CSS, SVG or PNG.SVG OptimizerMinify SVG files: strip metadata, comments and editor junk, round numbers, compare sizes.Compress Image to 200KBShrink any photo to under 200KB automatically, with the best quality that fits.CMYK to RGBConvert CMYK percentages to RGB and HEX color codes with sliders and a live preview.HSL to HEXConvert HSL and HSLA colors to HEX and RGB with sliders and a live preview.HEX to RGBAConvert HEX color codes to CSS rgba() with an opacity slider and one-click copy.RGBA to HEXConvert rgba() colors to 8-digit HEX, or flatten transparency onto any background.HEX to CMYKConvert HEX color codes to CMYK percentages for print, with a live preview.