how many shades of blue are there?

[zimv20]

... available to use on a webpage?

let's say you were designing a site, and the client says, "the background should be blue." and you might say, "you have to be more specific, because there are roughly X shades of blue."

what is the value of X? i make it to be about 5.6 million.

 

[dejo]

If you're talking about "web-safe" colors, they are only about 72 shades (216 / 3, since each color is made up of three primary colors: red, green and blue)

If you're talking about the entire range of colors, the number of shades of blue is infinite and only limited by the output device and its bit depth.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Ah, but what about those hues that fall into the 'blue' category for some, but not others? Like indigo veering on violet or at the other end, the more aqua-turquoise hues...

I suspect X might be a little higher... I know it's print but for those tricky clients, I usually throw my Pantone book at them telling them to use the CMYK chips unless they want/need to throw money at a spot colour.

Or I just ask them to bring in a sample which once lead to someone requesting that I scan their T-shirt...

As far as web is concerned, I can't quite see the point of being mega-picky as everyone's monitor is so differently set-up.

 

[mkrishnan]

Aren't most websites designed to 8 bit sRGB? Which means the number is a lot smaller?

 

[dejo]

let's say you were designing a site, and the client says, "the background should be blue."

Anyways, just set the background to #0000FF (or even the word blue) in your HTML/CSS. This is what the client requested; this is what they get!

 

[xsedrinam]

Just a quick look at an electromagnetic spectrum page, and I'm left with more questions than I had when I first looked. Under web shades, it lists some 23 or so hues which would be just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

 

[Applespider]

Any blue in their corporate logo that you could choose as a base to start from?

 

[zimv20]

i arrived at my figure like this:

when i do colors, i always specify them as that 6 digit RGB hex value: e.g. CE7A92

each hex value is 4 bits, and 6 x 4 = 24, each bit can be on or off, and reckoning that red, green and blue can equally claim ownership of colors, i've got:

(2^24)/3 = 5592405.3333...

not infinite, because we're limited to what can be internally represented (the capabilities of differing display devices are too varied to count as a basis), so i think the 5.6 million figure does nicely.

but i posted to hear differing opinions.

this actually came up this weekend, when i heard secondhand that a site a did was the wrong shade of blue and that i should pick another. hmmm....

 

[zimv20]

Any blue in their corporate logo that you could choose as a base to start from?

no, nothing like that.

here's the site, if anyone's interested. if you look at the blue in the word Imagine, you can see the background color they originally picked (good god was it horrendous as a background, so i changed it with approval).

btw -- i'm not a designer, i know that. i was the only one who volunteered to do it for free.

 

[Butters]

no, nothing like that.

here's the site, if anyone's interested. if you look at the blue in the word Imagine, you can see the background color they originally picked (good god was it horrendous as a background, so i changed it with approval).

btw -- i'm not a designer, i know that. i was the only one who volunteered to do it for free.

If it weren't for the green corners around the white rounded edges
and white background on the top buttons that would be a very nice looking site

If I can make a suggestion just try making the backgrounds on both either transparent or blue.

As for the blue thing, I have no idea but the shade you've chosen seems to work

 

[zimv20]

If it weren't for the green corners around the white rounded edges and white background on the top buttons that would be a very nice looking site

thanks, i think

my photoshop skills are so bad, i may as well be using my elbows. not really an excuse, though.

 

[emw]

Given that it's a congressional campaign site, I'd think the background blue should be Old Glory Blue (from the flag). This color is PMS 281C, which in RGB is 0, 40, 104.

 

[zimv20]

thanks for the recommendation, i'll give it a go on the test site.

fwiw, i had completely forgotten that the current blue i got from a piece campaign material. i.e. the campaign had chosen two different shades of blue (the other was rubbish for background).

 

[kaboutertje]

Change:

-The green around the edges
-The photo, make it blend in more, or at least cut it better at the bottom you can obviously see it's badly cut.
- Maybe change the blue used for imagine to the same blue as used in the background
- Ditch the buttons for better looking ones
- Some visitors with a low resolution will be forced to scroll horizontaly in your news section

Besides that it looks ok though.

 

[zimv20]

thanks for the suggestions!

 

[crees!]

Anyways, just set the background to #0000FF (or even the word blue) in your HTML/CSS. This is what the client requested; this is what they get!

Exactly! The client needs to be specific. Tell them to give you examples of the type of blue they're envisioning.

 

[calculus]

There are two. Dark blue and light blue.

 

[blueflame]

i never realized there were even that many colors at all
andreas