Hue, Saturation and Lightness

The Hue, Saturation, and Lightness (HSL) model is a way of representing colours that is often considered more intuitive than other models like RGB or CMYK.

Here is how the model breaks down:

Hue

Hue is the purest form of a colour, the part that makes it red, blue, green, yellow, blue or violet.

Hue is typically measured in degrees on a 360-degree colour wheel.

0° is red

120° is green

240° is blue.

Saturation

Saturation describes the intensity of a colour.

0% saturation contains no discernible hues, only greys.

100% saturation is the hue in its purest, with no grey present.

Lightness

Lightness is the relative amount of white or black mixed into a colour. It determines how light or dark a colour appears.

0% lightness is pure black

100% lightness is pure white