Image Duotone Tool
Map any photo to a bold two-colour duotone effect with custom hex shadow and highlight tones. Free, no signup, works in your browser.
Everything runs inside your browser — your file is never uploaded to a server.
About this tool
This tool converts a photo into a two-colour duotone by mapping its darkest pixels to one hex colour and its brightest pixels to another, then blending every tone in between, similar to the striking editorial style seen on music posters and magazine covers. Try a classic combination like navy blue (#1a1a4e) for shadows and hot pink (#ff5ea8) for highlights, or a subtler pairing like deep teal and warm cream for a calmer look. A live preview updates as soon as you pick new colours, so you can experiment with dozens of combinations before settling on one. Because the effect first converts the image to grayscale internally before applying the two-colour map, the contrast and detail of the original photo are preserved even though the colours themselves are completely replaced. JPG, PNG and WebP images all work as input, and the output can be exported as PNG or JPG depending on your needs.
How to use this tool
1. Choose an image
Pick a JPG, PNG or WebP file from your device.
2. Pick a shadow colour
Choose the hex colour for the darkest tones.
3. Pick a highlight colour
Choose the hex colour for the brightest tones.
4. Download
Save the duotone image to your device.
Why use this tool
Duotone effects give ordinary photos a bold, cohesive, editorial look that's instantly recognisable on posters, album covers and social media graphics, without the manual gradient-mapping steps required in a full design app. This tool lets you experiment with unlimited colour pairs in real time, so you can match a duotone exactly to a brand palette or a campaign mood before exporting.
Tips & best practices
- Pick colours with strong contrast between them, like dark navy and bright yellow, for the boldest effect.
- Start from a high-contrast photo, since duotone relies on clear shadows and highlights to look sharp.
- Try swapping which colour is assigned to shadows versus highlights for a completely different mood.
Common use cases
- Designing a concert poster with a bold two-colour photo treatment
- Creating consistent duotone thumbnails for a YouTube channel
- Styling a magazine-style cover image for a blog post
- Making an album cover with a striking duotone portrait
- Producing branded social media graphics using a company's colour palette
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is a duotone effect?
It replaces all colours in a photo with a gradient between two chosen colours, one mapped to shadows and one to highlights.
Can I use my own brand colours for the duotone?
Yes, enter any two hex codes and the whole image is remapped to that exact colour pair.
Does duotone work well on colour photos or only black and white ones?
It works on any photo, since the image is converted to grayscale internally before the two colours are applied.
What's a popular duotone colour combination?
Deep blue shadows with warm orange or pink highlights is a very common editorial-style pairing.
Will duotone remove all detail from the photo?
No, brightness and contrast from the original are preserved, only the colours themselves change.
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