Section 6 | Page 2

The Three Dimensions
of  Color

How is color measured? Although individuals perceive color differently, there are three general characteristics of color perception that everyone uses. Color can be plotted according to these characteristics. First, we can identify the basic color group, such as red, orange, yellow, etc. This is called HUE.  Also, we can generally identify the intensity, vividness or saturation of a color. This is called CHROMA. Lastly, we can tell if a color is light or dark. This is called LIGHTNESS. All colors can be located in a three-dimensional model of color space (a 3D map of visible color) with hue, chroma and lightness as the three dimensions. With these three values, we can describe and measure color precisely.