Halbtön

Halbtön is a term derived from German that translates to "half tone" or "half tint." In visual arts and graphic design, it refers to a tone or color that is intermediate between a full, saturated color and white or black. This intermediate tone is achieved by reducing the intensity of the original color, often through the use of a screen pattern or by mixing it with a lighter or darker shade.

The concept of halftones is fundamental to printing processes, particularly in the reproduction of photographs. Since printing presses can only apply solid inks, continuous-tone images, like photographs, must be converted into a series of dots of varying sizes and spacing. This dot pattern, when viewed from a distance, creates the illusion of continuous tones, with larger or more closely spaced dots appearing darker and smaller or more widely spaced dots appearing lighter. The density and size of these dots determine the resulting halftone shade.

In digital imaging, halftoning is also employed to simulate a wider range of colors and tones than what a display device might be capable of rendering directly. Various algorithms are used to create dithering patterns that mimic the appearance of halftones, especially when printing or displaying images with limited color palettes. The term can also be encountered in music, referring to the smallest interval between two notes in Western music, though its primary application remains in the visual realm.