Tonal value
In art and design, how light or dark a color is. Strong value contrast makes an image readable.
Also called color value, value contrast
Value is the painter’s word for lightness. A good test of any design is to view it in grayscale: if the important parts still stand out, the values are working.
High-key images use mostly light values; low-key images mostly dark ones.
Guides that cover Tonal value
- 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.
- Mixing Additive vs Subtractive Color Additive vs subtractive color explained: how RGB light adds up to white, how CMYK ink subtracts toward black, and why screens and print differ. Read on.
- 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.
- 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.
- About Swatching About Swatching Swatch.ing is a designer-built set of free color tools: palette extraction, HEX/RGB/CMYK conversion and precise color picking. Learn why it exists here.
- Pantone What Are Pantone Colors? Learn what Pantone colors are, how the Pantone Matching System and color codes work, and how Pantone compares to CMYK, RGB and HEX for print. Read on.
- Warm & Cool What Is Color Temperature? Color temperature explained: how Kelvin is measured, warm vs cool light and colors, and how temperature affects lighting, design and photos. Read the guide.
- CMYK What are CMYK colors? What is CMYK? Learn how the CMYK color model works, how it differs from RGB, and why print looks duller than your screen, plus how to convert. Read on.
- 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.
- RGB What are RGB colors? RGB color explained: how red, green and blue - 255 values make every color on screen, how to read an RGB color code, RGB vs HEX, and RGBA. Learn it fast.
- 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.
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