Duotone Generator

Map the whole brightness range of your photo between any two colors — the exact two-tone poster and album-cover look designers charge for, free in your browser.

Private by design — your photo is processed locally and never uploaded.

Drop a photo here, or click to browse

Supported formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP

Before After

Drag to compare

Tip: upload the largest scan you have — bigger input gives better results.

How It Works

Duotone is the print-industry trick behind bold album covers and posters: forget every original color, keep only how light or dark each pixel is, then repaint the whole image along a single gradient between two inks. This tool does exactly that on your own device, through the HTML5 Canvas API — your photo is never uploaded, stored or seen by anyone.

How the three controls map to the image:

Dark tone

The color your shadows become. Default deep coffee brown (#2B2620) reads warm and vintage; pick near-black charcoal for a modern poster look.

Light tone

The color your highlights become. Default warm cream (#E8D9B8); try soft white, pale mint or faded pink for a trendy two-tone graphic look.

Midpoint curve

Where the gradient bends. Higher values push more of the image toward the dark ink (moody, high-contrast); lower values lift everything toward the light ink (airy, soft).

Luminance preserved

The effect follows your photo's real brightness, so faces, clouds and silhouettes keep their shape and drama — only the colors change.

Instant live preview

Move a color picker and the canvas updates in real time. Experiment with brand colors, film stocks, or your team palette.

Fully local & private

No upload, no account, no watermark. Design as many versions as you like — even offline.

An honest note: a duotone is a flat color grade — it throws away the original three-color information on purpose for a graphic look. It is not "restoring" a photo; it is a creative stylization, and it cannot recover color or detail that your source image does not already contain. Start from a clean, contrasty image for the strongest result.

How to Use

Upload a photo with good contrastDuotones read best on images with clear light and dark separation — portraits, silhouettes, architecture. Drag the photo into the drop zone or click to browse.
Pick your two colorsChoose a dark tone for shadows and a light tone for highlights. The default coffee-brown + cream already looks like a vintage print; for modern branding, try navy + soft white or deep green + sand.
Shape the gradient with the Midpoint sliderPull it up for a moody dark look, down for a bright airy one. Judge it with the before/after slider.
Download your duotoneExport PNG for design work, JPG for social posts, or WebP for fast web pages.

FAQ

What is the difference between duotone and sepia?

Sepia keeps your original colors but tints everything warm brown. A duotone discards the original colors entirely and repaints the whole image between two colors you choose — so a blue sky can become deep navy and the clouds pale mint, exactly as album-cover designers do.

Why does my photo look flat after duotone?

Usually the source lacks contrast, or the two picked colors are too close in lightness. Pick a clearly darker "dark" color and a clearly lighter "light" color, or raise the Midpoint slider to deepen the shadows.

What do professional designers pick as duotone colors?

A timeless pairing is a deep cool tone (navy, forest green, charcoal) with a warm light tone (cream, sand, pale peach). Avoid two fully saturated colors that are close on the color wheel — the result loses depth.

Can I use my brand colors?

Yes. Both pickers accept any hex color — type your exact brand hex into the color input, or pick visually. Great for posters, banners and social graphics in your brand palette.

Is my photo uploaded to a server?

No. Everything runs locally in your browser with the Canvas API. Your photo never leaves your device — you can even disconnect after the page loads.

Is it really free and unlimited?

Yes — free, unlimited, no watermark, no sign-up. All tools stay free, supported by ads and an optional Pro tier later.