palette

palette

1. a flat piece of wood, plastic, etc., used by artists as a surface on which to mix their paints

2. the range of colours characteristic of a particular artist, painting, or school of painting

3. the available range of colours or patterns that can be displayed by a computer on a visual display unit

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

palette

[′pal·ət]

(computer science)

In computer graphics, the set of colors that can be shown on a display monitor.

(geology)

A broad sheet of calcite representing a solutional remnant in a cave. Also known as shield.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

palette

colour palette

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

palette

(1) An on-screen window that displays a group of icons/buttons that represent selections to choose from. Palettes may be fixed or customizable. Although it originated for color choices, the term evolved into generic usage. In contrast to a menu, in which the selections are normally hidden, a palette is like a toolbar with options visible at all times.

(2) The available colors in the computer's hardware or graphics file formats. See indexed color and color palette.

(3) An on-screen sample of available colors that may be selected by the user. For example, in a graphics program, it is used for selecting colors to paint images or draw objects. In a business application, the palette is used to select colors for fonts and backgrounds.

Copyright © 1981-2025 by The Computer Language Company Inc. All Rights reserved. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Palette

 

in the fine arts (primarily in painting), a system of color tonal relationships, which forms a certain unity and is an aesthetic realization of the colorfulness of reality. It is one of the most important means of aesthetic emotional expressiveness and a component of artistic representation. Its nature is related to the content and overall intention of the work of art, to the epoch, and to the style and personality of the artist.

Two types of pallettes have evolved thus far. The first is related to the use of a system of more or less quantitatively restricted local colors and often with the symbolic meaning of colors (as in medieval art). The second tendency is characterized by the desire to fully render the color scheme of the world, space, and light, as well as by the use of tones, values, and reflected colors. Depending on the particular color combinations, a palette can be serene or tense, cold (when blue, green, and violet tones predominate) or warm (when red, yellow, and orange tones predominate), or light or dark. Depending on the intensity and richness of the color, the palette can be bright, restrained, or muted. The palette used in a particular work of art is created by a unique interaction, which is achieved by adherence to the laws of harmony, complementarity, and contrast. The selection of a palette is determined by the type of art, the material, and the purposes of the work. The system of color relationships in sculpture and architecture is usually designated as polychromy.

REFERENCES

Evans, R. M. Vvedenie v teoriiu tsveta. Moscow, 1964. (Translated from English.)
Volkov, N. N. Tsvet v zhivopisi. Moscow, 1965.

V. S. TURCHIN

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Palette

 

(1) A board or tablet on which a painter mixes pigments, usually oil colors, while he works. A thin wooden board or a sheet of metal, earthenware, or porcelain may be used as a palette.

(2) The set of colors characteristic of the work of a particular painter.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.