Hue
The basic family of a color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) as a position on the color wheel.
Also called hues
Hue is what we usually mean by “which color”: red, yellow, blue and everything between. On a color wheel it is an angle, from 0° (red) through 120° (green) to 240° (blue) and back.
Two colors can share a hue and still look very different, because saturation and lightness change too. Navy and sky blue are both blue hues.
Guides that cover Hue
- Hue Match Hue Match A color matching game for your eye: recreate colors with hue, saturation and lightness sliders. Play five daily colors or match a whole palette. Free.
- Harmony What Is Color Harmony? Color harmony explained: complementary, analogous, triadic and other harmonies, and how balanced color relationships make a design feel right. Read on.
- Neutrals Understanding Neutral Colors Neutral colors explained: warm, cool and balanced grays, beiges and muted tones, plus how to build a neutral color palette for rooms, brands and UI.
- Value What Is Color Value and Why Does It Matter? Color value is how light or dark a color is. Learn why value drives contrast, readability and depth in design and art, and how to check it. Read the guide.
- Palettes What Is a Color Palette? What is a color palette? Learn the main palette types, how many colors to use and how to build one for your brand or website. Then try our palette tools.
- Light How Light Affects Color How light affects color: learn how light sources, reflection and surroundings change the colors we see, and why paint looks different at home. Read now.
- Color Wheel Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors Explained Primary, secondary and tertiary colors explained across RYB, RGB and CMYK, with how each one is mixed on the color wheel. Learn the basics in 5 minutes.
- Tints & Shades Tints, Shades, and Tones Tint, shade and tone explained: see how adding white, black or gray changes a base color, and how to use each to build richer palettes. Read the quick guide.
- HSL What are HSL colors? HSL color explained: how hue, saturation and lightness define a color, how the HSL color space differs from RGB, and how to use HSL and HSLA in CSS. Read on.
- HEX What are HEX Colors? Hex colors explained: how hex color codes like #FF5733 work, how #RRGGBB maps to RGB, what shorthand hex means and how to convert hex to RGB. Read on.