Duotone replaces a photo’s entire tonal range with a gradient between two colors — shadows become one hue, highlights another. Born in printmaking and made famous by Spotify’s artist imagery, it turns any photograph into bold graphic design: perfect for posters, covers, hero banners and profile art that needs to pop.
Pick a Shadow color and a Highlight color with the color pickers — teal and pink for a synth feel, navy and yellow for sport, deep purple and orange for heat. Contrast controls how sharply tones divide between your two colors. The strength slider can blend the duotone back over the original for a tinted hybrid look. Free, instant, private.
How to add the duotone effect to a photo
Tips for the best duotone look
- High-contrast photos with clear subjects make the strongest duotones — busy midtone-heavy images can turn mushy.
- Dark shadow color + bright saturated highlight is the classic recipe; two similar-brightness colors create a flatter, softer poster look.
- Portraits in duotone make striking avatars — raise Contrast until the face reads clearly.
Duotone effect — FAQ
How does duotone mapping work?
The photo is first converted to luminance (brightness). Each pixel’s brightness then picks a point on a gradient between your shadow color and highlight color — dark pixels take the shadow color, bright pixels the highlight color, midtones blend between them.
Can I use my brand colors?
Yes — both color pickers accept any hex color, so you can match exact brand palettes for marketing assets, social headers and presentation imagery.
What is the difference between duotone and a color tint?
A tint overlays one color on the whole image. Duotone maps two different colors to shadows and highlights, preserving tonal structure while completely replacing the palette — much more graphic and intentional.