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Tint, Shade and Tone

Explanations > Perception > Visual Perception > Tint, Shade and Tone

Tint | Shade | Tone | So what?

When a saturated hue is mixed with white, black or mid-gray, then it creates tints, shades and tones, as below. These words are used in particular in computer graphics and photo editing.

Tint

A tint is created when any saturated hue on a spectrum is mixed with white to form a lighter color. The diagram below shows hue horizontally and increasing tint through to white vertically downwards.

Tints in images tend to be seen when the subject is brightly lit, such as in full daylight or under a spotlight. Pastel colors are generally tinted versions.

With a hue defined by values in Red, Green and Blue (going from 0 to 1 in each), the tint can be increased while sustaining the underlying color with the formula X=(1-X)*P, where X is the value of Red, Green and Blue, and P is a percentage (0 to 1) to increase the tint towards white.

Shade

A shade is created when any saturated hue on a spectrum is mixed with black to form a darker color. The diagram below shows hue horizontally and increasing shade through to black vertically downwards.

Shades in images tend to be seen in shadows and when there is little overall lighting.

With a hue defined by values in Red, Green and Blue (going from 0 to 1 in each), the shade can be increased while sustaining the underlying color with the formula X=X*(1-P), where X is the value of Red, Green and Blue, and P is a percentage (0 to 1) to increase the tint towards black.

Tone

A tone is created when any saturated hue on a spectrum is mixed with mid-gray to form a more muted color. The diagram below shows hue horizontally and increasing tint through to white vertically downwards. Color pickers in photo editors often appear like this, with an additional black-to-white (shade to tint) slider on the side.

Tones in images tend to be seen when there is limited diffuse lighting. Toned objects have reducing contrast with other objects and become increasingly indistinct.

With a hue defined by values in Red, Green and Blue (going from 0 to 1 in each), the tint can be increased while sustaining the underlying color with the formula X=X+X*(0.5-P), where X is the value of Red, Green and Blue, and P is a percentage (0-1) to increase the tint towards white.

So what?

Understand the effects of these three ways of fading saturated colors into monochromes and use these in color calculations.

See also

Twelve Color Wheel

http://www.workwithcolor.com/color-converter-01.htm