Drag and drop or click to upload a JPG, PNG, or WEBP file. The duotone is applied immediately with the default preset.
Duotone Effect
Map any photo to two colors — choose shadow and highlight tones to create bold, graphic duotone art. Free, no signup, no watermark.
How to Apply a Duotone Effect
Choose a preset or click the Shadow and Highlight color swatches to set custom colors. Hit the swap button to reverse them instantly.
Click Download to save the result as a lossless PNG at the original pixel dimensions.
How the duotone effect works
The tool converts each pixel to a grayscale brightness value (0–255), then interpolates between the shadow color and the highlight color based on that brightness. Dark pixels take on the shadow color, bright pixels take on the highlight color, and mid-tones blend proportionally between the two. Everything runs directly in your browser using the canvas API — no server, no AI model.
Choosing good color pairs
High-contrast pairs with complementary or opposing hues produce the boldest results — dark purple with bright yellow (the classic Spotify look), navy with teal, deep green with lime. Low-contrast pairs create a more subtle tinted effect. Try the built-in presets as a starting point, then use the custom pickers to dial in your exact brand colors.
Common uses
Brand and marketing — duotone images in brand colors unify a visual identity across campaigns. Music and events — bold duotone is a staple of gig posters, album art, and festival visuals. Social media headers — a duotone treatment makes profile headers and banners stand out. Editorial design — magazines and online publications use duotone for impact on feature story photography.