Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
As the value of a single hue changes, either darker or lighter, its intensity decreases.
Value
A color's value is its intrinsic darkness or lightness. Yellow is perceived as being
light; violet is perceived as being dark. Again, it's all relative. One color can be con-
sidered darker or lighter only compared to another. Yellow, even, appears darker than
white, which has the lightest possible value of any color. An extremely deep blue or
violet appears quite luminous against a maximal black, which has the darkest value of
any color (black being technically the absence of any reflected light). Lightening the
value of an intensely saturated hue tends to desaturate it. Darkening the value of a mod-
erately to intensely saturated hue will initially intensify its saturation, but if the value
is darkened too much, the hue will become less vibrant. Placing any color on a darker
color will make it seem lighter, as will increasing the amount of a color. If you've ever
had the unfortunate experience of picking out a paint swatch for your living room only
to find that it's three or four values too light once you paint an entire wall, you already
know this to be true. Bringing two hues of the same value together, regardless of their
relative intensities, creates an odd “bleeding” effect that messes with our ability to see a
sharp, distinct boundary between the two. The more different the two hues, or the more
similar they are in intensity, the more pronounced this effect becomes; at some magical
