Questions tagged [color-theory]
Questions about color mixing guidance and the visual impacts of specific color combinations.
355
questions
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1answer
63 views
What is the lightest shade of pink that can contrast to white at 3:1?
I'm trying to investigate / create a pink color pallet. I need to know what is the lightest shade of pink that can give a contrast ratio (see WCAG) of 3:1 -- and maybe even 4.5:1 -- with white (#...
0
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0answers
35 views
Two "color wheels" consisting of distinct colors
This is probably a complete novice question, so apologies in advance if that is the case. Is there a standard way to create two "color wheels" that consist of very distinct color palettes? ...
2
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3answers
718 views
How are #654ff0 and #f0db4f complementary?
The new WebAssembly logo uses a colour, #654ff0, that is claimed to be complementary to the one used in a JavaScript logo, #f0db4f:
I've tried various online tools (#654ff0 gives #fd9815 or #ffd63b ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views
Adobe Illustrator: How to build a color palette around skin tone
I'm using Adobe Illustrator and the recolor dialog box. For the purpose of this artwork, I can't change the skin tone, and the color of the hair is also limited. I'd like for Illustrator to give me a ...
0
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0answers
44 views
How to achieve result of a 2 Layer setup(top one is Overlay blend) with a multiple default images combination?
Imagine we have a 2 layer setup like this:
Top Layer + (Blend Mode: Overlay)
this layer shows a half-transparent smoke cloud - very bright in the center starting at white with smooth color transitions ...
1
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1answer
94 views
Why is brown a neutral color?
I recently have read two definitions of being a neutral color.
Neutral colors are colors that can be used within any color scheme as in contour and highlight.
Neutral colors are hues that appear to ...
0
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1answer
44 views
Which colors as background for a white logo [closed]
It is common to find white logos on a (some variant of) red background, e.g. Quora, Pinterest, Adobe, Swiss, Lego, etc. Somewhat less common is a white logo on a blue background, e.g. (Facebook) ...
0
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3answers
110 views
How to determine color temperature by computer?
Hello I need to figure out if skin tones (real ones from photographies) are either warm or cool. As I'm having difficulties assessing with my eyes only I wondered if there was a tool that would tell ...
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0answers
51 views
How do I find multiple variation of same color which are visually contrasting
I am developing some kind of heatmap for a stock market-related project which has ~80 large to small boxes on the screen to denote a stock and it's change
I use a red background on box to denote loss, ...
0
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2answers
65 views
Design system - shades of primary color from 050 to 900 how to evaluate which colors are these?
I want to create a scale of shades from 050 to 900. (I refer to Material Design Color palettes like here: https://material.io/design/color/the-color-system.html#color-usage-and-palettes)
I have my ...
2
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1answer
149 views
How to fine tune text colors for black background?
In a current project, I want to display formulas with different colours on black background.
My idea is that they are easy to distinguish, have good contrast to the black background and fit together ...
4
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1answer
86 views
Writing professional texts
Since I don't know pretty much about, I'd like to ask you:
What makes a text professional?
At first glance, what do people notice in the text that will then prompt them to read it?
What colors can ...
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3answers
2k views
How to choose a good color palette that is easy for the eyes, yet convey the deepness of the topic?
This is the map of all topics my project discusses:
Click for full screen. SVG file
Here are the feedback of the viewers:
Person 1: The color is painful to the eyes
Person 2: The graphic is quite ...
1
vote
1answer
62 views
Given a set of surrounding colors, how to find a good color template?
This is a map of topics the I cover in my project. The topics are segmented in different stages, and I would like to have your advice on how to color the segments. I check the color wheel to find a ...
0
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1answer
55 views
When to use Curves for photo?
i don't understand something in color correction, when should i use Curves that changes Shadows/Highlights colors, rather than change the color itself by using for example selective color?
0
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1answer
34 views
Are luminosity and value synonymous
I have always heard the word value used to describe the lightness of a color. Does luminosity refer to the same thing?
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2answers
2k views
Good-to-Bad color scale without green
I'm new to the community but I was wondering if you guys could help me out. Typically when someone want to display a scale of good-to-bad they show something like:
Red is bad and green is good, with ...
3
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4answers
124 views
Is the color exactly between two opposite colors always medium gray?
I was trying to find the opposite of a web color (let's take #917AFA as an example) and an online tool told me that it is #6E8505. Then, I used another online tool to find the color that is exactly in ...
4
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4answers
319 views
Is there a color system in which Red, Yellow, and Blue are primary colors?
Children are often taught that Red, Yellow, and Blue are "the primary colors", with Orange, Green, and Purple "the secondary colors." This matches neither additive (RGB) nor ...
0
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2answers
124 views
What is the math behind these color combinations?
In short, I want to know what the theory is behind the Helpscout colour palette. I think it has something to do with material.io?
https://style.helpscout.com/visual-elements/
Now I've always had my ...
0
votes
1answer
141 views
Color correct to counter low blue light
Everytime I create a video,it looks good in a normal screen but considering half of the people have the low blue light effect enabled, I would like to balance somehow the colors of my videos to ...
26
votes
5answers
5k views
How can I detect if a color is gray
I'm trying to programatically detect if a color is "gray" or not.
The best measure of "grayness" I could find was the saturation. The problem that I'm running into is that ...
0
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1answer
54 views
Scientific methods to obtain perfect color gradient between red and green for scale
I am in the course of designing an application that allows users to ask survey questions by swiping along a coloured scale. For preliminary testing, I just took a coloured gradient from the internet ...
2
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1answer
58 views
Colour maps for visualising sparse points against black background
I would like to visualise sparse 3D points against a black background. Each point is associated with a brightness value. I would like a colour map to display these points in a visually appealing way, ...
0
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1answer
586 views
How to find a color within area in CIE 1931 color space
Color should fall within an area defined with coordinates in CIE 1931 color space as stated in CIE 39.2 - "Recommendations for Surface Colours for Visual Signalling".
The area is described ...
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1answer
79 views
How this overlay color effect was created? [duplicate]
I'm struggling with a little problem. I want to recreate some kind of overlay effect, but I cannot get close to it. I hope some pros among you know how this overlay was created...
Note: I have tried ...
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1answer
41 views
Best color for one image [closed]
I have an application with two columns, one on the left that display the major information, one on the right with a random image (and a bit of text).
I would like to use a background color (a subtle ...
1
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0answers
35 views
How to find out more about the colour theory design of warning signs and labels?
For a project, I have found that I wish to learn about the color theory of warning signs and labels, specifically those that use colors across a spectrum that indicate an increasing intensity or ...
0
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1answer
285 views
YCrCb colorspace: why does it contain only blue and red color information, but not green?
I was reading about YCrCb colorspace.
First channel, Y is "luminance" (akin to the brightness) of the pixel.
Second channel, Cb is the "chrominance" (aka color) for blue.
Third channel, Cr, is the "...
7
votes
3answers
4k views
Why can colors that don't follow color theory look harmonious? [closed]
I'm a little confused about color theory, I did some studying and research, I understand the concept of color harmony, analogous, complementary etc...should match, but then, some color schemes that ...
4
votes
3answers
773 views
Confused about color theory/wheel?
I see that Adobe's color wheel https://color.adobe.com/create doesn't match neither RGB neither RYB color models. Ex: If I choose RGB = 255,0,0 I get a shade of Green as a complementary color. But I ...
0
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2answers
136 views
What is a good technique to layer one colour on top of another colour of the same colour?
The part I struggle with (that would be all colour theory :D) is as follows:
So I choose a colour with my limited to non-existent colour theory and then create two shapes and put one on top of the ...
0
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1answer
90 views
How to choose a text color for a logo that has a bi-colored icon in it?
So I'm making this logo for a friend's project of an online multiplayer version of the card game "Coup". This is what I made so far:
But the thing is I don't want to use 3 colors, as I think it makes ...
0
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0answers
65 views
How to represent a scaling object?
This is a subjetive question, however I can imagine there are answers with reasoning so I think it fits the website.
I'm designing a visualization tool in a static medium (no animations) for 2D ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
How can I measure the "colorfulness" of an image?
Alright Ive looked at https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-way-to-measure-color-saturation-in-Photoshop and read Color Theory: Is there a measurement of "colorfulness"? but need an applicable ...
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0answers
61 views
Finding the Yule-Nielsen factor
I have a rather technical question. I'm trying to find the Yule-Nielsen factor n in the equation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neugebauer_equations
I've read that n is empirically derived from the "...
1
vote
1answer
30 views
What do you call (S×V) in the HSV color model?
What do you call the quality of a color being “vivid,” or in other words, the quality of a hue being distinct and recognizable? Mathematically speaking, what do you call (S×V) in the HSV color model?
6
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3answers
979 views
Isometric color shading rule for pixel art
Lets say I have a cube in an isometric pixel art with the 'normal' color #ff0000 (red) and I want to shade remaining sides, is there a rule for selecting the top (brighter red) color and the darker ...
3
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2answers
3k views
Should we increase saturation and brightness on CMYK colors?
I already heard that when we're gonna pick a correspondent CMYK color from a RGB one, it's "recommended" increasing saturation and brightness in order to get a better printing result, because every ...
2
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3answers
224 views
Palette of at least 10 hues with 4 lightness levels (by perceived appearance)
For a user interface I need at least 10 distinctive perceived hues, to get a palette with these criteria:
The palette should have at least 10 hues and 4 lightness levels for each hue (dark, medium-...
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2answers
93 views
What CTA color would work best?
I am just getting into UI design. I have a site I am working with right now whose primary color is #ffb606(yellow). All of my CTA's are yellow with white text. I need to change the CTA color but I am ...
0
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1answer
69 views
What color scheme to choose for background color of different section in one page website?
I have a website page with different sections like about us and contact us. I was learning about color wheel schemes but it is still unclear if I should use complementary or analogue scheme for ...
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6answers
3k views
Are spot colors limited and why CMYK mix is not treated same as spot color mix?
I read this article today. I understood a few things, but few remained unanswered.
The article mentioned 18 basic colors. The things little confused me after that line. I assumed Pantone have only 18 ...
2
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1answer
815 views
Can the RGB Colour Space recreate all colours within the CMYK Colour Space?
The obvious answer, to me, is that the RGB Colour Space is capable of reproducing the CMYK Colours; for the simple fact that the CMYK Colour Space is fully consumed within the RGB Colour Space as ...
2
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3answers
192 views
How should Colour Ranges, that exceed 4 colours, be referred to?
I am aware that CMYK is a Colour Gamut used for Printing, representing the following colours:
C: Cyan;
M: Magenta;
Y: Yellow;
K: Black.
What I have not come across are standard terms used, when ...
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2answers
66 views
Would a 5+ Colour Printer output any noticeable improvements on Prints of Artwork captured by Camera/Scanner?
I wish to create reproductions, of various pieces of Artwork I have created; using a variety of Paints. The obvious first step would be to create a digital copy using a Camera or Scanner etc.
Once a ...
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2answers
3k views
What's the difference between Brightness / Contrast / Color Balance / Gamma Correction & Saturation?
Can someone explain the differences between these 5 terms, as if I were 5 years old?
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3answers
407 views
Can a combination of purple-green or pink-green make a design look bad?
Just like we use some green on red (not all cases, depends on saturation and lightness) as shown in last image, which looks not very common & attractive when it comes to illustrations for social ...
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1answer
179 views
Setting new colour gradient scheme against flat colour scheme
What gradient colour scheme would work best for the boxes on my website? I have a navy header and grey background, but would like to add a splash of colour. The navy colour is part of our brand so it ...
1
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2answers
43 views
Limited colour gamut of process colour
Process color has a limited color gamut when compared to spot color. Why does process color have a limited range of color?. Explain it in detail.
