Print Media Studio 01 - Colour Research

Glossary of Terms

Colour

A colour is a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect.

Hue

A hue is the quality of a colour as determined by its dominant wavelength.

Chroma

A chroma is the degree of a colour's brilliance.

Value

Colour value is defined as the relative lightness or darkness of a colour.

Saturation

Saturation is the purity or strength of color, due to the absence of black, white or gray.

Tint

A tint (or pastel) is a hue with a white added.

Shade

A shade is a hue with a black added.

Pastel

A pastel (or tint) is a hue with white added.

Tone

A tone is a hue with grey added.

RGB

RGB stands for the colours Red-Green-Blue.

CMYK

CMYK stands for the colours Cyan-Magenta-Yellow and Black.

L/ab

Lab colour is a colour model developed by the International Consortium on Illumination. The Lab model, like other CIE colour models, defines colour values mathematically in a device-independent manner. Lab colour is consistent colour regardless of the device producing it.

Websafe

Web safe colours are colours used in designing web pages, and the methods for describing and specifying those colours.

Hexadecimal

Hexadecimal is a numbering system which uses a base of 16. The first ten digits are 0-9 and the next six are AF.
Hexadecimal numbers are used to colour web pages. For example, the hexadecimal equivalent for the colour white is #FFFFFF.

Pantone matching system

A popular colour matching system used by the printing industry to print spot colours. Most applications that support colour printing allow you to specify colours by indicating the Pantone name or number. This assures that you get the right colour when the file is printed, even though the colour may not look right when displayed on your monitor.

Triadic colour (a Triad)

The triadic colour scheme uses three colors equally spaced around the colour wheel.

Tetradic colour (a Tetrad)

The tetradic (double complementary) scheme is the most varied because it uses two complementary colour pairs.

Complementary colour

The complementary colour scheme consists of two colours that are opposite each other on the colour wheel.

Split complementary colour

The split complementary scheme is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a colour and the two colours adjacent to its complementary.

Analogous colour

The analogous colour scheme uses colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel.

Achromatic colour

A achromatic colour is a colour lacking hue; white or grey or black.

Monochromatic colour

The monochromatic colour scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single colour.

Contrast by extension (or volume)

Contrast of extension is when one colour is extended over a large area, contrasting another colour extended over a very small area.

Additive colour

An additive colour system involves light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colours

Subtractive colour

Subtractive colour explains the theory of mixing paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create colours which absorb some wavelengths of light and reflect others.

Simultaneous contrast

Simultaneous contrast is the phenomenon which occurs when a colour appears to change when seen against a different background.

Luminosity

Luminosity is the brightness of either a light source or a reflective surface.

Inverted colour

An inverted colour is a colour that is on the opposite side of the colour wheel.