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Colour jargon can be baffling, especially when it comes to choosing paint or speaking to designers. Here are the basics. 

Hue refers to the actual colour (i.e. blue, green, red etc.). Unlike 'colour' which is a blanket term that's used to refer to any hue, tint or tone, hue refers specifically to the 12 pure colours (see below) on the colour wheel. 

Pure colours are bright, crisp and clear with no black, white or grey added to it. 

Value refers to the darkness or lightness of a colour. Lighter colours have higher values and darker colours have lower values, so white has the highest value, while black has the lowest value. 

Chroma is the purity of a colour. A hue with high chroma has no added black, white or grey. Conversely, if you add black, white or grey to a hue, it reduces its chroma. 

Shades are created when black is added to a hue, making it darker.

Tints are created when white is added to a hue, making it lighter. The more white that is added, the milkier and softer the colour appears. 

Tones are created when grey is added to a hue. Tones are generally softer-looking than pure hues.

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