The free image editor GIMP has a feature to import a color palette from an image, such as a photograph. While there are several free tools that can help you produce a color scheme that can be imported into GIMP — such as Color Scheme Designer — producing a color palette in GIMP can be a very useful option.

To try this technique, you'll need to select a digital photo that contains a range of colors that you like. The following steps will show you how to use this simple method yourself, so you can create your own GIMP color palette from an image.

This technique builds a palette from the colors in a photo, so choose a photo that contains a pleasing range of colors. GIMP's Import a New Palette can only use open images, and cannot import an image from a file path.

To open the selected photo, go to File > Open. Then navigate to your photo and click the Open button.