färgantalet

Färgantalet is a Swedish term used to describe the number of colors in a color set, palette, or image. It is a practical measure in fields such as digital imaging, printing, and graphic design, where color representation is constrained or optimized.

The term is derived from färg (color) and antalet (the number). In practice, färgantalet is expressed as a whole number, indicating how many distinct colors the palette supports or the image contains after quantization.

In image processing and media workflows, färgantalet affects file size, rendering speed, and color fidelity. Small färgantal, such as 16 or 256 colors, reduces memory usage and simplifies printing, while larger färgantal better preserves image details and gradients.

Color quantization techniques determine färgantalet automatically, including k-means clustering, median cut, and octree methods. Manual selection by designers is common for branding. Dithering can be used to simulate more colors than are present by blending adjacent colors to mitigate banding.

Practical considerations include the target medium (screen versus print), viewing conditions, and accessibility. Too few colors can produce color banding and poor hue representation; too many can increase file size and complicate workflows. Standards such as sRGB and ICC profiles guide consistent color use to maintain predictable färgantal across devices and workflows.