Over the last few years, digital art has become a major influence on our daily lives and color is one of the most important aspects of any digital art project. Digital artists are always looking for new and better approaches to working with color both on and off the computer screen. Until now, most digital artists have approached digital color with traditional methods such as the color wheel. This is because the color pickers that come with graphics programs and stand-alone color selection software have been based on the color wheel and the basic RGB colors. This approach does not translate well to digital color and the colors that result from these tools are harsh and very unnatural.

Now, there is a new approach to digital color that has become quite popular. Genometri Private Limited has created a new type of color selection software called GenoPal Pro^TM and a new patent-pending color selection process. This new approach to color selection is based on the way the human eye responds to color as opposed to the mathematical way the computer "sees color". The result of this perceptual approach to color selection is more natural and harmonious color schemes.

There are two popular methods for building a color scheme for a project. You can start with an existing color or colors and build a color scheme around them. Another way is to pick colors from a photograph or other source image. GenoPal Pro will let you use both of these methods. Let's take a look at how the GenoPal Pro software can be used to build a color palette. Previously, I had created a digital image of an ice cream cone and decided to use it in a digital scrapbooking project. I will use this image as a source for the first color in my color palette, called the "start color".

My first step is to use the program's eye dropper and magnifier to select the pink color from the top scoop of ice cream. This start color is automatically placed in the center of the palette layout. Next, I click the button to generate several color palettes based on this start color. By coincidence, one of the color palettes contains the lavender color that I used for the second scoop of ice cream in my source image. So I right-click on that lavender color square to lock the color. Now, when I generate new color sets, both the lavender and the pink colors will not change. I continue clicking the button and using the Color and Brightness slider controls to generate more color sets until I find the perfect color palette for my project.

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Screen shots used by permission of Genometri Private Limited. GenoPal is a trademark of Genometri Private Limited. Visit www.genopal.com for more information.

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