Stuck on what colors to use?

Color... it'll make you or break your work. I don't know about you, but I struggle in this area a lot. I find a great tube or picture I want to use it in my designs, and then try my hardest to find contrasting colors to make it pop off the page... and end up disappointed.
I questioned if I even had the knack anymore. I know what looks good and what doesn't, but I didn't know why. I was fine if I copied someone else's color scheme, but doing one of my own? I kept hoping I'd just magically find the colors that would make my pages look breathtaking, but have come up empty handed until I discovered the color wheel.
Colors actually have relationships. When Sir Issac Newton figured out how to put the colors in this fancy wheel, he made a huge break-through.
So, there's a few ways you can mix colors together.

MONOCHROMATIC using the same color in different shades	ANALOGOUS using 3 colors next to each other on the color wheel
COMPLEMENTARY using colors directly across from each other on the wheel. Offers the most contrast	SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY using the analogous colors of the compliment. Reduces the high tension of a complementary scheme
TRIADIC COLOR using 3 colors evenly spaced across the wheel. Gives balance and harmony	TETRADIC COLOR dual complementary scheme that gives lots of color choices. Pick a dominate color for the best effect.

I've also found a cool color wheel program that does this for you, so there's no guesswork. http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/
So, I hope it'll help steer you in the right direction of what colors to pick and avoid in your design!
To your design success,

Copyrights and the law

I was just a victim of copyright thievery.

I bid for a job on Craigslist for a cigar shop and the owner wanted a "mock-up" before hiring a designer to make their website. Well, that should have been my first clue that the guy wasn't a honest person because normally, a designers work should stand for itself and someone should hire you based on that work. But I was hoping to get the job and hoped he was honest. So, after several hours of hard effort to make a great layout, I submitted to the owner for review. No word back... nada, nothing. So I figured he'd went with someone else, oh well, right?

A few months later, I looked up the shop to see what design beat me out, and low and behold, there was an almost dead-on look-a-like of my design staring back at me from his site. I was pissed! (and flattered because I DID HAVE THE BEST DESIGN). Anyway, I proceeded to confront the owner telling him he had no right to use my design concept without my permission and if he didn't pay me, I'd go to his ISP. He said he'd received many designs that looked like the one I submitted, and went with another designer (Yeah right). So, I did what I threatened to do. A design is like a signature. We all use the same letters, but they look very different from one another.

I'm happy to say, Yahoo agreed with me, and took down the site. It felt very good to have justice served and now he's going to be getting a letter from my lawyer! I will be paid for my hard effort.

If someone takes your work and claims it as their own, and you can prove it. You can take it to their Internet Service Provider (which can be found from their domain registration on WHO IS) and complain through the proper channels.