Colour, Bs Numbers &

Munsell System

Bs Numbers

Bs Numbers

Colour Wheel

The Munsell System•  the Munsell colour

system is a colour space that specifies colours based on three colour dimensions

•  hue, value (lightness)

•  chroma (colour purity).

• It was created by Professor Albert H. Munsell in the first decade of the 20th century 

Hue• What’s the difference between a Hue and

a Colour? Most people, even the pros, get confused about this. Basically they mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably.

• The words are a general terms to describe the colour family on the Basic Colour Wheel that your swatch is rooted in. They indicate the root of the variations we see. To make things simpler, think of a Hue as one of the twelve colours on the mixing wheel.

• Most Colour Wheels only show bright colours which can create confusion. It’s not always easy to see that every colour, even black, has a Primary, Secondary or Tertiary Colour as its root.

• Burgundy = the root Colour or Hue is RED

• Navy = the root Colour or Hue is BLUE

• Rust = the root Colour or Hue is ORANGE

Chroma

• Chroma or colour strength refers to the amount of visual difference from a grey of the same value.

• In short then, the system may be said to classify any given colour according to the closest full or “saturated” colour

• the closest grey, and the visual difference from that grey (F

Value•  value refers to the

lightness or darkness of a color. It indicates the quantity of light reflected.

• When referring to pigments, dark values with black added are called “shades” of the given hue name.

• Light values with white pigment added are called “tints” of the hue name.

Pipe Line Colours