The degree of lightness or darkness of a color is called what?

The degree of lightness or darkness of a color is called what?

• A. Value
• B. Hue
• C. Saturation
• D. Brightness

Answer: (A)

Value describes how light or dark a color appears. It measures lightness versus darkness regardless of the hue and is what you adjust when you create shading or contrast in artwork. Hue is the color family (red, blue, yellow), not its lightness. Saturation is the color’s intensity or purity (how vivid it is), not how light or dark it looks. Brightness is a term often used in digital contexts to describe luminance, which can overlap with value but value is the standard term for lightness/darkness in traditional color theory.

Value describes how light or dark a color appears. It measures lightness versus darkness regardless of the hue and is what you adjust when you create shading or contrast in artwork. Hue is the color family (red, blue, yellow), not its lightness. Saturation is the color’s intensity or purity (how vivid it is), not how light or dark it looks. Brightness is a term often used in digital contexts to describe luminance, which can overlap with value but value is the standard term for lightness/darkness in traditional color theory.