Color Theory Reference
Kip Landergren
(Updated: )
My cheat sheet for color theory covering terminology and helpful resources.
Contents
Color Theory Terminology
- alpha channel
-
range representing the opacity, typically from 0.0 (completely transparent) to 1.0 (completely opaque). comes from the use of mattes in photography and filmmaking applied to digital images. More info.
- HSL (HSB)
-
Hue, Saturation, {Lightness, Brightness, Value}
Also: HSV
- hue
-
the variation of a color independent of its brightness
- shade
-
the result of mixing a color with black
Related: tone
- tint
-
the result of mixing a color with white
Related: shade, tone
- tint slider
-
corrects colors along the green / magenta axis. See this explanation of tint slider usage.
- tone
-
the result of mixing a color with gray
Resources
- Color: From Hexcodes to Eyeballs
- The HSB Color System: A Practitioner’s Primer
- Color in UI Design: A (Practical) Framework
- HSLuv
- Color Management Tutorial
Tools:
- hue.tools, for playing around with color and palettes
- Palettte.app, for creating color palettes using HSV
- colorbox.io
Explanations: