Using Adobe Color is a great way to see traditional color harmonies and save them for use in Adobe programs such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and InDesign. That part is great, but I have a few gripes.

  • I become irritated when programmers make up terms when there are already well-established terms in use. For instance, when an artist creates a color harmony, it is also referred to as a color scheme. Unfortunately, Adobe decided to use the term theme instead. 
  • Adobe really needs a color expert on staff. Adobe Color is intended to be used to make decisions about color. Our perception of a color is altered by the color or value that surrounds it. This is why the inside of color booths used to evaluate color is middle gray. Unfortunately, Adobe ignores this convention. As of this writing, the options for the background color of the page are just dark gray or white. Adobe should add middle gray to these options.

If you haven’t used Adobe Color, give it a try. It really is an excellent way to try out various color harmonies.