Web Design – Color Terminologies

By Author: Alex Baker
Total Articles: 149
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When one is just a novice in the world of web designing the terminologies related to color may prove be a hindrance in getting along with others of the same field. Usually web site designing is a team work and you may sooner or later realize the importance of getting acquainted to the following terminologies related to coloring the websites.

- Hue
The actual color of anything is referred to by the word “hue”. The hue colors include yellow, red, blue, green, and purple.

- Chroma
Measuring the purity of the hue with reference to the gray color is called Chroma. High Chroma means that there is no shade of gray in that color. Conversely, Low Chroma means more shade of gray in that color. This means that the chroma is reduced whenever the gray shade is added to any color.

- Saturation
This refers to how much pure is the hue. To some extent it is similar to Chroma but not identical. The color is said to be saturated only when there is use of hues that are pure. When the gray color is added to any pure hue the saturation falls and it turns out to be desaturated.

- Intensity
The ...
... intensity of the color refers to how bright or how dull it is. The intensity of any color is lowered when either black or white color is added to it. Conversely a color is said to be intense when neither black nor white color is added to it.
If you try to relate the three terminologies Chroma, Saturation and Intensity then a color with high chroma is an intense color with high saturation.

- Luminance or Value
Every color reflects some portion of light. Luminance or Value quantifies this portion of light. This terminology reveals the darkness or lightness of the hue in quantifiable terms. When white color is added to the hue, the hue becomes lighter and consequently the Luminance or Value increases. On the contrary when black color is added to the hue, the hue becomes darker and consequently the Luminance or Value decreases.

- Shade
This terminology refers to the darker hue produced when the black color is added to the hue.

- Tint
This terminology refers to the lighter hue produced when the white color is added to the hue.

- Color Tone
The gray color is between the white color and black color. The “Color Tone” terminology refers to the hue produced when this gray color is added to the hue.

When we try to relate Tone, Shade and Tint, it becomes obvious that shade is one extreme tone while the Tint is the contradictory extreme tone.
Once one is clear about the above mentioned terminologies and puts the knowledge into practice one will be surprised to see how he/she is being respected by his/her colleagues.

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