Shades of white are colors that differ only slightly from pure white. Variations of white include what are commonly termed off-white colors, which may be considered part of a neutral color scheme.
In color theory, a shade is a pure color mixed with black (or having a lower lightness). Strictly speaking, a "shade of white" would be a neutral gray. This article is also about off-white colors that vary from pure white in hue, and in chroma (also called saturation, or intensity).
Colors often considered "shades of white" include cream, eggshell, ivory, Navajo white, and vanilla. Even the lighting of a room, however, can cause a pure white to be perceived as off-white.[1]
Off-white colors were pervasively paired with beiges in the 1930s,[2] and especially popular again from roughly 1955 to 1975.[3] In terms of paint, off-white paints are now becoming more popular, with Benjamin Moore having 152 shades of off-whites, Behr having 167, and PPG has 315.[4]
Below is a chart showing the computer web color shades of white. An achromatic white is a white color in which the red, green, and blues codes are exactly equal. The web colors white and white smoke are achromatic colors. A chromatic shade of white is a white color in which the red, green, and blue codes are not exactly equal, but are close to each other, which is what makes it a shade of white.
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness. White is the lightest possible color.
The web colorghost white is a tint of white loosely inspired by traditional representations of ghosts. There is no evidence that this color name was in use before the X11 color names were formulated in 1987.[citation needed]
The web color white smoke is displayed on the left.
There is no evidence that this color name was in use before the X11 color names were formulated in 1987. The color is also known as Cultured Pearl, one of crayon colors issued by Crayola in its 16-pack of Pearl Brite Crayons.[7]
The web color white solid is displayed on the left.
There is no evidence that this color name was in use before the X11 color names were formulated in 1987. Sometimes also known as Ghost White, the color has marked blue hues, although is otherwise very close to being completely white in the RGB color system.[8]
Ivory is an off-white color that resembles ivory, the material out of which the teeth and tusks of animals (such as the elephant and the walrus) are made. It has a very slight tint of yellow.
The first recorded use of ivory as a color name in English was in 1385.[10]
Dutch white is one of the colors on the Resene Color List, a color list popular in Australia and New Zealand. The color Dutch white was formulated in 2000.
Alabaster has been used as a color in English since at least 1594 (in Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece), but the origin of the RGB coordinates is not known.
Beige is variously described as a pale sandy fawn color, a grayish tan, a light-grayish yellowish brown, or a pale to grayish yellow. It takes its name from French, where the word originally meant natural wool that has been neither bleached nor dyed, hence also the color of natural wool. A more than 300 year old antecessor of the word "beige" can be found in the surname of Louis de Béchameil and the French name for Béchamel sauce.
Lavender is a light shade of purple or violet. It applies particularly to the color of the flower of the same name. The web color called lavender is displayed adjacent—it matches the color of the palest part of the flower; however, the more saturated color shown as floral lavender more closely matches the average color of the lavender flower as shown in the picture and is the tone of lavender historically and traditionally considered lavender by average people as opposed to website designers. The color lavender might be described as a medium purple or a light pinkish-purple. The term lavender may be used in general to apply to a wide range of pale, light, or grayish-purples, but only on the blue side; lilac is pale purple on the pink side. In paints, the color lavender is made by mixing purple and white paint.
Cerise is a deep to vivid reddish pink.
Spring green is a color that was traditionally considered to be on the yellow side of green, but in modern computer systems based on the RGB color model is halfway between cyan and green on the color wheel.
In optics, orange has a wavelength between approximately 585 and 620 nm and a hue of 30° in HSV color space. In the RGB color space it is a secondary color numerically halfway between gamma-compressed red and yellow, as can be seen in the RGB color wheel. The complementary color of orange is azure. Orange pigments are largely in the ochre or cadmium families, and absorb mostly blue light.
Spring bud is the color that used to be called spring green before the X11 web color spring green was formulated in 1987 when the X11 colors were first promulgated. This color is now called spring bud to avoid confusion with the web color.
Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma or lightness, or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a green or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these various colors is shown below.
Varieties of the color red may differ in hue, chroma or lightness, or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a red or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these various colors are shown below.
Pink colors are usually light or desaturated shades of reds, roses, and magentas which are created on computer and television screens using the RGB color model and in printing with the CMYK color model. As such, it is an arbitrary classification of color.
The color magenta has notable tints and shades. These various colors are shown below.
Livid is a medium bluish-gray color. This color name comes from the Latin color term lividus meaning "'a dull leaden-blue color', and also used to describe the color of contused flesh, leading to the English expression 'black and blue'". The first recorded use of livid as a color name in English was in 1622.
Varieties of the color blue may differ in hue, chroma, or lightness, or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a blue or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these colors is shown below.
Variations of gray or grey include achromatic grayscale shades, which lie exactly between white and black, and nearby colors with low colorfulness. A selection of a number of these various colors is shown below.
The color cyan, a greenish-blue, has notable tints and shades. It is one of the subtractive primary colors along with magenta, and yellow.
Violet is a color term derived from the flower of the same name. There are numerous variations of the color violet, a sampling of which are shown below.
There are numerous variations of the color purple, a sampling of which is shown below.
Shades of brown can be produced by combining red, yellow, and black pigments, or by a combination of orange and black—illustrated in the color box. The RGB color model, that generates all colors on computer and television screens, makes brown by combining red and green light at different intensities. Brown color names are often imprecise, and some shades, such as beige, can refer to lighter rather than darker shades of yellow and red. Such colors are less saturated than colors perceived to be orange. Browns are usually described as light or dark, reddish, yellowish, or gray-brown. There are no standardized names for shades of brown; the same shade may have different names on different color lists, and sometimes one name can refer to several very different colors. The X11 color list of web colors has seventeen different shades of brown, but the complete list of browns is much longer.
Shades of black are colors that differ only slightly from pure black. These colors have a low lightness. From a photometric point of view, a color which differs slightly from black always has low relative luminance. Variations of black include what are commonly termed off-black colors, which may be considered part of a neutral color scheme, usually in interior design as a part of a background for brighter colors. Black and dark gray colors are powerful accent colors that suggest weight, dignity, formality, and solemnity.
Rose is the color halfway between red and magenta on the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel.
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 193; Color Sample of Cornsilk: Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample G3
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 193; Color Sample of Cream: Page 41 Plate 9 Color Sample D4
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190; Color Sample of Beige: Page 45 Plate 11 Color Sample C2
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 192; Color Sample of Champagne: Page 45 Plate 11 Color Sample B3 Note: The color called Champagne in the color box above (color #F7E7CE) matches the color shown as Champagne in Maerz and Paul.
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 206; Color Sample of Vanilla: Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample C3
↑ The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called flax in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the color flax is displayed on page 47, Plate 12, Color Sample B2.
↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 195; Color Sample of Flax: Page 47 Plate 12 Color Sample B2
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Color coordinates
