Colour themes

We've covered making your photos pop using colours picked from pictures, now we're going to talk about how to link them into a theme.

Most layouts need a strict colour theme to achieve unity and balance.

Without themes, pages look cluttered and seem to have random, mismatched elements.

Basic themes are pastels, primary colours, jewel tones, or monochromatic colours.

By keeping all of the colours you use on each page within the boundaries of one of the above themes, you will be able to mix and match without worry.

Another fail safe idea is to mix in black, grey, or white. These colours can be used along with any of the aforementioned themes with good results. Just make sure that it gives you the look you want.

For more theme ideas, look around you.

Check out packaging in the grocery store. What colours do they use together? Do you like the results?

What colours are 'in' this year? If there's a new mix that you like, test it out on a layout.

Just keep in mind that these are keepsakes that you'll want to keep around for years. If purple and yellow are in this season, and you're not sure if you'll like it next year, hold off.

We take a lot of nature pictures, so most of my pages use blues, browns, and greens.

Play until you find a few themes that you really like, or that go with the colours in most of your pictures.

There are so many colours out there to experiment with, just have fun with it.