Skip to main content

ColorKuler will generate a color palette based on your Instagram profile

ColorKuler App
Image used with permission by copyright holder
If there is one thing that stands out about the greatest photographers it is that they almost always have a clear and consistent style used in their imagery. This is part of what allows their work to be easily recognizable. Many photographers struggle with trying to define and nail down what their style really is, but a new tool called ColorKuler is looking to help people get it sorted out.

ColorKuler, with a name clearly inspired by Adobe’s Kuler color palette tool, is an app that makes finding your personal color palette as easy as a few clicks of a button or taps on a screen. The idea is that each of us has our own view of the world, we are each drawn to different aesthetics in terms of design and color. The developers, assuming that users on Instagram are posting what they are drawn to, have developed ColorKuler to analyze Instagram accounts and generate a color palette that encapsulates that users color style.

ColorKuler
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The accuracy of this in determining a color palette that you like will, of course, be dependent on how true to your eye you are in what you post to your Instagram account. But if the theory holds true that you are mostly posting things that appeal to you, there will likely be a pattern of some kind hidden within your posting habits.

Using ColorKuler is really easy as well, all you need to do is visit the ColorKuler app website and enter your Instagram username in the box asking for it. The app then loads up your Instagram profile and does its analysis, a few seconds later spitting out your custom color palette. If you have been struggling to define your style, this tool could be really helpful in helping you see the sort of colors and tones that you are drawn to in an easy-to-digest way.

Having these colors and tones that you are drawn to defined so clearly can be a great way to help you further develop your style into the future; be it when buying new clothes, decorating your home, or choosing the look and feel of your next photo shoot.

As a final note, ColorKuler has been getting a lot of attention of late and this has led to some reliability issues with accessing the site. If you happen to run into an issue when trying to load up the site wait a few minutes and give it another try.

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony Thurston
Anthony is an internationally published photographer based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Specializing primarily in…
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more