Halftone

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A technique for creating images by manipulating dot sizes and spacings to achieve a gradient effect in tones and colors
2. A method that uses a pattern of varying sized dots to reproduce images with smooth tonal gradations in print forms
3. A printing technique that relies on a series of dots of varying sizes to create the illusion of continuous tone in images and artwork

Etymology: Halftone is a compound of "half" and "tone," and the second element carries a long history. "Tone" descends from Ancient Greek "tónos," meaning a stretching or tension, which passed through Latin "tonus" and reached English in Middle English. Its sense of a musical pitch or quality of sound is one of the earlier developments, and the word later came to describe shades of light and dark in visual art. The "half" in halftone points to its literal meaning: a tone midway between full light and full shadow. In printing, a continuous photograph or painting is broken into tiny dots of varying size, so the eye blends them into intermediate shades. The process turns the idea of a graded tone into a practical technique, with the dot pattern standing in for the smooth gradations that presses could not reproduce directly.