Using an image as the basis for your color scheme is a good idea, particularly if the image is a part of your design. There are several online tools that can help you generate color schemes from any image. Nature photos often provide the most harmonious color schemes, so I used a photo taken while diving to test a couple of free color schemer tools.
Color Palette Generator
This tool asks you to submit the URL of an image and then generates a color scheme based on the colors present in the image. It provides you with a web safe color scheme containing five vibrant colors and five duller ones.
Whats Its Color
This tool analyzes the pixels of a image you upload or link to, and identifies the dominant and complimentary color of the image, and the top ten colors.
Color Hunter
This tool creates a custom color palette similar to the one generated by the Color Palette Generator, but in addition to linking to an image it also allows you to upload one. The color scheme, even if similar to the one provided by the Color Palette Generator, is not web safe
You can find more color tools on the tools page.
