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3:2 Color Theory – Hue, Tint, and Value

I
was asked to design a financial special report targeted to executives. The client wanted the report
done in reflex blue and black. They used reflex blue in their other marketing materials and wanted to
continue with the same color to maintain their “brand identity.”
But as the project progressed, I discovered we couldn’t use reflex blue in the sidebars and callout
boxes as planned. At the 10-20% tints we needed for the boxes, reflex blue looks lavender. That’s not a
good color to use when you’re talking money with high-powered businessmen!
I brought it to the client’s attention, and they decided to scrap reflex blue. Instead, they went with
a blue that had more green in it so the color would remain more “masculine-looking” in tints.
It’s always worth bringing up color problems with your clients – even when they’ve insisted on
using a particular color scheme. Even the most adamant client may change his mind when he sees that
the color he’s “got to have” will hurt sales.
Color theory is the study of mixing and matching colors in the way that works best for each
application. You could fill an encyclopedia with all the concepts involved in color theory. But we’re
lucky. In DM design, there are actually just three concepts you’ll work with most of the time: hue, tint,
and value.

Hue
Hue is just a more technical word for “color.” It’s a term that describes the characteristics that
distinguish one color from another… such as red from yellow from blue. Hue is the term Quark Xpress
and other design programs use when they refer to color, so you’ll see it often.

Tint
A tint is a “screened” color. Hues are 100% saturated – the color is as intense as it can be. Tints of a
color are less saturated. The lower the saturation, the lighter the tint. In practice, tints simply use less of
the color on the page, which makes them look lighter. Tints are still “pure” colors – that is, they’re not
mixed with any other color.

Value
A color’s value is a reference to its brightness – how relatively light or dark the color appears. When we
discuss value, we’re actually making a relative comparison of the color to white. The closer to white the
color is, the brighter it appears to the eye… and the higher its value.
In today’s exercise, you’ll learn to work with hues, tints, and values in Quark Xpress.

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Your Hands-on Exercise:

Follow the steps below to add a hue, add a tint, and check a
color’s value in Quark.
1. In Quark, select File, New, and Project. This opens the
New Project dialog box.
2. Accept the default settings by clicking on <OK>.

3. Create a new text box on the page and type the following headline into it.

4. Increase the size of all the headlines to 24 points.

Note: The default text color in Quark is 100% black.
Now let’s change the color (hue) of the text to a tint.
5. With the text selected, go to the Color tab on the right-hand side of your screen.
Notice the top of the tab where it says “Shade.” The default is 100%.
6. Click on the arrow next to the Shade window and choose 50%.

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This changes the color to gray, because there’s less black on the page.

7. Now move the slider next to the Shade window down to 10%.
Notice how you can barely see the off-white letters against the white background.

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That’s it! You started with a hue (100% black) and then tinted it (to 50% and then to 10%). As you
can see from the examples, both tinting steps increased the color’s value. That is, brought it closer to
white.
In this session, you uncovered how to work with hues, tints, and values in Quark Xpress. In
our next session, you’ll learn about color relationships and discover how to create eye-catching – and
pleasing – designs with color.

Additional Resources on Using Color in Type

www.tintbooks.com
DTG Magazine calls TintBook “the most accurate, printed, color-reference guide we’ve seen for
taking the guesswork out of color matching when preparing art files for printing projects.”
You can literally predict color at the design concept stage, using TintBook’s 25,000 CMYK
process screen tint combinations. A special pastel section shows even the most subtle colors you’d never
attempt to predict on the screen.
TintBook’s color charts are well-organized and user-friendly. They come complete with color
management tips and valuable printing information defined in uncomplicated terms. TintBook is
indispensable to anyone in the graphic design industry.

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