Term: Halftone

Definition: A term with several meanings,

the first being a reference to a process patented in 1881 by Frederick Eugene Ives that allowed photographic reproduction of images by photographing the original art through a screen. The word referred to the value of the resulting color, which was a shade of grey, or ???half??? white and ???half??? black. The earliest Halftone method was limited to ???tones??? of blacks and whites and revolutionized illustration art because it preserved the integrity of the original art and omitted block printing and the need for engravers. Later in that decade, development of the four-color process allowed the first use of full color in books and magazines. A second definition of Halftone is that of a transition color that a painter uses to move from light to dark. It is basically a unifier of the light and dark sides of an object in a painting. In watercolor, the Halftone is accomplished with a clean semi-moist brush with which the artist blends or softens the edge where needed. In oil, Halftones are achieved by mixing light and dark colors together. Sources: Editor, ???American Illustration???, ???American Arts Quarterly???, Winter 2006, p. 40; Ralph Mayer, ???A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques???; Lydia A Miniter, Oradell New Jersey, ???American Artist???, 6/2002 (LPD)

(1) To photograph or scan a continuous tone image to convert the image into halftone dots. (2) A photograph or continuous-tone illustration that has been halftoned and appears on film, paper, printing plate or the final printed product.

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