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: SRON/EPS/TN/09-002

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Colour Schemes
Prepared by: Paul Tol

136,204,238
88CCEE

221,204,119
DDCC77

68,170,153
44AA99
51,34,136
332288

153,153,51
999933

204,102,119
CC6677

17,119,51
117733

170,68,153
AA4499

136,34,85
882255

Document Change Record

Issue

Date

Changed Section

Description of Change

1.0

18 November 2009

All

Initial version

1.1

23 November 2009

Fig. 6

Improved green on grey background

2.0

17 January 2010

All

Print-friendlier schemes
Added commands to simulate colour-blindness

2.1

2.2

17 August 2010

29 December 2012

Fig. 3

Different choice of 8-colour set

p. 4

Remark added on background grey

p. 5

Remark added on NEN colour set

Section 5

Added section on palette check

Section 4

Added a banded rainbow scheme

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Table of Contents
1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Distinct Colour Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Best Colour Scheme for Different Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rainbow Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Colour-Scheme Robustness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Colour-Blindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Reference Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Introduction

Graphics with scientific data become clearer when the colours are chosen carefully. It is convenient to have
a good default scheme ready for each type of data, with colours that are distinct for all readers, including
colour-blind people. This document shows such schemes as a function of the number of colours needed, with
some examples. It also gives a conversion of colour coordinates to simulate approximately how any colour is
seen if you are colour-blind.

136,204,238
88CCEE

221,204,119
DDCC77

68,170,153
44AA99
51,34,136
332288

153,153,51
999933

17,119,51
117733

136,204,238
88CCEE

170,68,153
AA4499

136,34,85
882255

221,204,119
DDCC77

68,170,153
44AA99
51,34,136
332288

204,102,119
CC6677

153,153,51
999933

204,102,119
CC6677

17,119,51
117733

170,68,153
AA4499

136,34,85
882255

Figure 1: Palette I of printable websmart colours that are as distinct as possible in both normal and colour-blind
vision, but also match well together. The same colours are shown on a white and a black background, marked
with their decimal RGB values and hexadecimal HTML colour codes.

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Distinct Colour Palettes

Palette I in Fig. 1 consists of colours that are as distinct from each other as possible, while also:
distinct in colour-blind vision;
distinct from black and white;
distinct on computer screen and paper;
matching well together.
Colour coordinates (R, G, B) are given in the RGB colour system (red R, green G and blue B), decimal at the
top and hexadecimal at the bottom. Alternative palette II in Fig. 2 is more regular: colours in each row have
the same shade (light, medium or dark) and in each column the same hue (azure, cyan, teal, yellow, orange,
red or pink). This palette has been optimized for the medium shades, so some combinations with light or
dark shades, shown in Table. 1, are best avoided. If palette I is used, colours can be chosen at random, but

119,170,221 119,204,204 136,204,170 221,221,119 221,170,119 221,119,136 204,153,187

77AADD
77CCCC
88CCAA
DDDD77
DDAA77
DD7788
CC99BB

68,119,170
4477AA

68,170,170
44AAAA

68,170,119
44AA77

170,170,68
AAAA44

170,119,68
AA7744

170,68,85
AA4455

170,68,136
AA4488

17,68,119
114477

17,119,119
117777

17,119,68
117744

119,119,17
777711

119,68,17
774411

119,17,34
771122

119,17,85
771155

Figure 2: Palette II with a more regular pattern of hues (columns) and shades (rows).
Table 1: Colour combinations from palette II (Fig. 2) that are least distinct in colour-blind vision. These should be
avoided, especially the top two.

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68,119,170
4477AA

68,119,170 204,102,119
4477AA
CC6677

68,119,170 221,204,119 204,102,119

4477AA
DDCC77
CC6677

68,119,170
4477AA

17,119,51 221,204,119 204,102,119

117733
DDCC77
CC6677

51,34,136 136,204,238 17,119,51 221,204,119 204,102,119

332288
88CCEE
117733
DDCC77
CC6677

51,34,136 136,204,238 17,119,51 221,204,119 204,102,119 170,68,153

332288
88CCEE
117733
DDCC77
CC6677
AA4499

51,34,136 136,204,238 68,170,153

332288
88CCEE
44AA99

51,34,136 136,204,238 68,170,153

332288
88CCEE
44AA99

51,34,136 136,204,238 68,170,153

332288
88CCEE
44AA99

51,34,136 136,204,238 68,170,153

332288
88CCEE
44AA99

51,34,136 102,153,204 136,204,238 68,170,153

332288
6699CC
88CCEE
44AA99

51,34,136 102,153,204 136,204,238 68,170,153

332288
6699CC
88CCEE
44AA99

17,119,51
117733

17,119,51
117733

17,119,51
117733

153,153,51 221,204,119 204,102,119 170,68,153

999933
DDCC77
CC6677
AA4499

153,153,51 221,204,119 204,102,119 136,34,85

999933
DDCC77
CC6677
882255

153,153,51 221,204,119
999933
DDCC77

17,119,51
117733

17,119,51
117733

17,119,51 221,204,119 204,102,119 170,68,153

117733
DDCC77
CC6677
AA4499

102,17,0
661100

153,153,51 221,204,119
999933
DDCC77

153,153,51 221,204,119
999933
DDCC77

204,102,119 136,34,85
CC6677
882255

102,17,0
661100

102,17,0
661100

170,68,153
AA4499

170,68,153
AA4499

204,102,119 136,34,85
CC6677
882255

204,102,119 170,68,102
CC6677
AA4466

170,68,153
AA4499

136,34,85
882255

170,68,153
AA4499

Figure 3: Scheme examples for qualitative data. Each row is a scheme for a different number of colours.

even here some combinations are more distinct than others. Some of the most distinct subsets, depending
on the number of colours, are given in Fig. 3. When there are more than nine colours, some extra colours
outside palette I have been defined. For subsets of fewer than five colours, the dark blue has been replaced
by medium azure from palette II. Data gaps can be indicated with light grey DDDDDD (221, 221, 221). The
four-colour set in Fig. 3 is reasonably distinct when printed in grey, but a set optimized for this purpose is
shown in Figure 4.

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Figure 4: A four-colour subset of palette I that is optimized for printing in grey scale. Tip: if used for lines, also
use dashed and dotted lines.

Figure 5: All websmart sRGB colours with vividness 0.4 with printable colours enclosed by a black line. Initials stand for blue, azure, cyan, teal, green, spring, yellow, orange, red, pink, magenta and violet. Colours in
palette I (left) and palette II (right) are indicated by white squares. Three light shades in palette II have been
made less vivid (out of the plane of the figure) to put them inside the CMYK gamut, and are therefore not indicated. Geometric distance does not indicate perceptual colour distance, especially not if colour-blindness is
taken into account.

The design of these palettes involved four types of calculations:

for the distance between colours the CIEDE2000 colour difference E00 is used [1];
red-blind and green-blind vision is simulated by the method described in section 6;
colours with the same product of saturation S and value V in the HSV colour system (same vividness)
match well together;
colours are called printable if they are within the CMYK gamut provided by colour profile ISO Coated v2
300% (discussed below).
To reduce the number of calculations without much loss of choice, only websmart colours were considered,
meaning the hexadecimal RGB coordinates are only 00, 11, . . . , FF. The vividness was chosen to be SV = 0.4.
With a smaller value colours become too grey, with a larger value there is not enough range of shades for
palette II and in general there are fewer printable colours.
All colours in this document are defined in sRGB colour space, the default used by most software and
displays. Printers work in a different colour space that also varies from model to model. When they conform to international standard ISO 12647-2 and the exact printing conditions are not known beforehand, it
is recommended to assume the CMYK colour space provided by colour profile ISO Coated v2 300% [2]. All
palette colours are taken from the overlap between this and the sRGB colour spaces. More specifically, the
two colour blocks in Fig. 5 show all sRGB colours with vividness 0.4, while the colours enclosed by a black
line are also in the CMYK colour space defined above and therefore printable. Pure blue of this vividness (column above B) is not printable. Magenta, green and light cyan are also problematic for printers. The palette
colours are indicated by squares. They are not equally spread over the figure within the black lines, because
geometric distance in this figure does not correspond to perceptual colour distance, even in normal vision.
The Netherlands Standardization Institute NEN has issued a code of practice which includes a recommended palette with eight colours, three greys and white [3]. Differences between them are often much
smaller than the smallest difference in palette I, two colours are not printable and they cannot be quoted
without infringing copyright.
This section ends on an SRON-specific topic: PowerPoint presentations on a dark grey background. In
this case the light shades (top row) in palette II could be used. However, the original SRON template already

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255,255,255
FFFFFF

255,255,204
FFFFCC

255,204,102
FFCC66

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128,155,200
809BC8

100,194,4
64C204

255,102,102
FF6666

66,66,66
424242

Figure 6: SRON PowerPoint colours on a dark grey background, with the left four taken from the original template. Colours from the top row in Fig. 2 also work on this background.

defines three colours: white for titles, light yellow for normal text and orange for highlighted text. If the light
blue from the footer is added, two extra hues are green and red. The complete palette optimized for projection is shown in Fig. 6. The red is rather pale, because it becomes darker on a projection screen. The green is
carefully chosen so it differs from orange in red-blind vision and differs from red in green-blind vision.

Best Colour Scheme for Different Data Types

A colour scheme should reflect the type of data shown. There are three basic types of data:
1. Qualitative datanominal or categorical data, where magnitude differences are not relevant. This includes
text in presentations and lines in plots. Use palette I (Fig. 3) or different hues (colours from a row) in palette II
(Fig. 2).
2. Sequential datadata ordered from low to high.

255,247,188 254,196,79
FFF7BC
FEC44F

217,95,14
D95F0E

255,251,213 254,217,142 251,154,41

FFFBD5
FED98E
FB9A29

255,251,213 254,217,142 251,154,41

FFFBD5
FED98E
FB9A29

204,76,2
CC4C02

217,95,14
D95F0E

255,251,213 254,227,145 254,196,79 251,154,41

FFFBD5
FEE391
FEC44F
FB9A29

153,52,4
993404

217,95,14
D95F0E

255,251,213 254,227,145 254,196,79 251,154,41 236,112,20

FFFBD5
FEE391
FEC44F
FB9A29
EC7014

204,76,2
CC4C02

255,255,229 255,247,188 254,227,145 254,196,79 251,154,41 236,112,20

FFFFE5
FFF7BC
FEE391
FEC44F
FB9A29
EC7014

255,255,229 255,247,188 254,227,145 254,196,79 251,154,41 236,112,20

FFFFE5
FFF7BC
FEE391
FEC44F
FB9A29
EC7014

153,52,4
993404

140,45,4
8C2D04

204,76,2
CC4C02

204,76,2
CC4C02

140,45,4
8C2D04

153,52,4
993404

102,37,6
662506

Figure 7: Scheme for sequential data [4]. The smooth version at the bottom is produced with Eq. (1).

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153,199,236 255,250,210 245,162,117

99C7EC
FFFAD2
F5A275

0,139,206 180,221,247 249,189,126 208,50,50

008BCE
B4DDF7
F9BD7E
D03232

0,139,206 180,221,247 255,250,210 249,189,126 208,50,50

008BCE
B4DDF7
FFFAD2
F9BD7E
D03232

58,137,201 153,199,236 230,245,254 255,227,170 245,162,117 210,77,62

3A89C9
99C7EC
E6F5FE
FFE3AA
F5A275
D24D3E

58,137,201 153,199,236 230,245,254 255,250,210 255,227,170 245,162,117 210,77,62

3A89C9
99C7EC
E6F5FE
FFFAD2
FFE3AA
F5A275
D24D3E

58,137,201 119,183,229 180,221,247 230,245,254 255,227,170 249,189,126 237,135,94

3A89C9
77B7E5
B4DDF7
E6F5FE
FFE3AA
F9BD7E
ED875E

210,77,62
D24D3E

58,137,201 119,183,229 180,221,247 230,245,254 255,250,210 255,227,170 249,189,126 237,135,94

3A89C9
77B7E5
B4DDF7
E6F5FE
FFFAD2
FFE3AA
F9BD7E
ED875E

61,82,161
3D52A1

61,82,161
3D52A1

58,137,201 119,183,229 180,221,247 230,245,254 255,227,170 249,189,126 237,135,94

3A89C9
77B7E5
B4DDF7
E6F5FE
FFE3AA
F9BD7E
ED875E

210,77,62
D24D3E

210,77,62
D24D3E

58,137,201 119,183,229 180,221,247 230,245,254 255,250,210 255,227,170 249,189,126 237,135,94

3A89C9
77B7E5
B4DDF7
E6F5FE
FFFAD2
FFE3AA
F9BD7E
ED875E

174,28,62
AE1C3E

210,77,62
D24D3E

174,28,62
AE1C3E

Figure 8: Scheme for diverging data [4]. The smooth version at the bottom is produced with Eq. (2).

(a) If there are two or three classes, it is possible to use different intensities of the same hue (colours
from a column) in palette II (Fig. 2).
(b) For three or more classes, use a scheme as given in Fig. 7.
3. Diverging datadata ordered between two extremes where the midpoint is important, e.g. positive and
negative deviations from zero or a mean. Use a scheme as given in Fig. 8.
Plot examples of qualitative data, sequential data and a combination are given in Figs. 9, 10 and 11, respectively. An example of diverging data is shown in Fig. 12.

The smooth version of the yellow-orange-brown

scheme in Fig. 7 is produced by

R/ 255 = 1 0.392(1 + erf[( 0.869)/ 0.255]) ,

(1a)

G/ 255 = 1.021 0.456(1 + erf[( 0.527)/ 0.376]) ,

(1b)

B/ 255 = 1 0.493(1 + erf[( 0.272)/ 0.309]) ,

(1c)

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blue
yellow
red

0.5

0.0

-0.5

green

-1.0
-1.0

-0.5

0.0

0.5

1.0

Figure 9: A qualitative colour scheme: distinct colour hues with modest intensity differences for data where
magnitude differences are not relevant. Left: four curves and labels that are distinguishable from each other
and clear on a white background. Right: members (red), associate members (green), observers (blue) and associate partners (yellow) of the Western European Union. The four-colour set from Fig. 3 is used.
400

300
250
200
150
100

population density @km-2 D

350

50
0

Figure 10: A sequential colour scheme: variation of colour intensity for data that are ordered from low to high,
in this case the population density. The hue can also vary to some extent, as long as the intensity differences
dominate. (On this map there are no countries in the class 250300 km2 .)

Figure 11: A combination of a qualitative and a sequential colour scheme. As in Fig. 9, different categories have
different hues: European Football Championship winners are red. As in Fig. 10, within each category, data are
ordered from low to high by different intensities: the suicide rate per 100,000 is < 10 (light), 1015 (medium)
or > 15 (dark). Three shades of two hues from Fig. 2 are used.

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-100

-80

-60

-40

-20
0
geoid height @mD

20

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40

60

80

Figure 12: A diverging colour scheme: the middle of the legend is emphasized with light colours and low and
high extremes are emphasized with dark colours that have contrasting hues. Distance between the WGS84
ellipsoid and the geoid calculated with the EGM96 gravity model.

with 0 1 and error function erf. The smooth blue-yellow-red scheme in Fig. 8 is given by:
R/ 255 = 0.237 2.13 + 26.922 65.53 + 63.54 22.365 ,
!2
0.572 + 1.524 1.8112
G/ 255 =
,
1 0.291 + 0.15742


B/ 255 = 1 1.579 4.03 + 12.922 31.43 + 48.64 23.365 .

(2a)
(2b)
(2c)

The quantitative (sequential and diverging) schemes in Fig. 7 and 8 were taken from the ColorBrewer
website [4], where many others can be found. The qualitative schemes there do not have the characteristics
of palettes I and II, which was the reason I designed these two.

Rainbow Schemes

Quantitative data should not be shown with a rainbow scheme, because the spectral order of visible light carries no inherent magnitude message. In addition, most rainbow schemes contain bands of almost constant
hue with sharp transitions in-between, which are perceived as jumps in the data. Finally, colour-blind people
have difficulty distinguishing some colours of the rainbow.
However, if you have tried schemes as discussed in the previous section and still want a rainbow, Fig. 13
shows such a scheme that is continuous and reasonably clear in colour-blind vision. The colours in each row
are equidistant in normal vision using the CIEDE2000 colour difference [1] as a distance measure. The smooth

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64,64,150
404096

64,64,150
404096

64,64,150
404096

120,28,129
781C81

120,28,129
781C81

120,28,129
781C81

120,28,129
781C81

120,28,129
781C81

120,28,129
781C81

63,71,155
3F479B

64,64,150
404096

65,59,147
413B93

63,78,161
3F4EA1

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217,33,32
D92120

82,157,183 125,184,116 227,156,55

529DB7
7DB874
E39C37

217,33,32
D92120

73,140,194 99,173,153 190,188,72 230,139,51

498CC2
63AD99
BEBC48
E68B33

63,96,174
3F60AE

63,86,167
3F56A7

87,163,173 222,167,58
57A3AD
DEA73A

Issue

217,33,32
D92120

83,158,182 109,179,136 202,184,67 231,133,50

539EB6
6DB388
CAB843
E78532

217,33,32
D92120

75,145,192 95,170,159 145,189,97 216,175,61 231,124,48

4B91C0
5FAA9F
91BD61
D8AF3D
E77C30

217,33,32
D92120

70,131,193 87,163,173 109,179,136 177,190,78 223,165,58 231,116,47

4683C1
57A3AD
6DB388
B1BE4E
DFA53A
E7742F

217,33,32
D92120

66,119,189 82,157,183 98,172,155 134,187,106 199,185,68 227,156,55 231,109,46

4277BD
529DB7
62AC9B
86BB6A
C7B944
E39C37
E76D2E

217,33,32
D92120

65,108,183 77,149,190 91,167,167 110,179,135 161,190,86 211,179,63 229,148,53 230,104,45

416CB7
4D95BE
5BA7A7
6EB387
A1BE56
D3B33F
E59435
E6682D

217,33,32
D92120

64,101,177 72,139,194 85,161,177 99,173,153 127,185,114 181,189,76 217,173,60 230,142,52 230,100,44

4065B1
488BC2
55A1B1
63AD99
7FB972
B5BD4C
D9AD3C
E68E34
E6642C

217,33,32
D92120

Figure 13: Continuous rainbow scheme. The smooth version at the bottom is produced with Eq. (3).

136,46,114 177,120,166 214,193,222 25,101,176 82,137,199 123,175,222 78,178,101 144,201,135 202,224,171 247,238,85 246,193,65 241,147,45
882E72
B178A6
D6C1DE
1965B0
5289C7
7BAFDE
4EB265
90C987
CAE0AB
F7EE55
F6C141
F1932D

17,68,119
114477

119,17,85
771155

119,17,85
771155

68,119,170 119,170,221 17,119,85

4477AA
77AADD
117755

170,68,136 204,153,187 17,68,119

AA4488
CC99BB
114477

170,68,136 204,153,187 17,68,119

AA4488
CC99BB
114477

68,170,136 153,204,187 119,119,17 170,170,68 221,221,119 119,17,17

44AA88
99CCBB
777711
AAAA44
DDDD77
771111

170,68,68 221,119,119 119,17,68

AA4444
DD7777
771144

68,119,170 119,170,221 17,119,119 68,170,170 119,204,204 119,119,17 170,170,68 221,221,119 119,68,17

4477AA
77AADD
117777
44AAAA
77CCCC
777711
AAAA44
DDDD77
774411

68,119,170 119,170,221 17,119,119 68,170,170 119,204,204 17,119,68

4477AA
77AADD
117777
44AAAA
77CCCC
117744

232,96,28
E8601C

170,68,119 221,119,170
AA4477
DD77AA

170,119,68 221,170,119 119,17,34

AA7744
DDAA77
771122

68,170,119 136,204,170 119,119,17 170,170,68 221,221,119 119,68,17

44AA77
88CCAA
777711
AAAA44
DDDD77
774411

220,5,12
DC050C

170,68,85 221,119,136
AA4455
DD7788

170,119,68 221,170,119 119,17,34

AA7744
DDAA77
771122

170,68,85 221,119,136
AA4455
DD7788

Figure 14: Banded rainbow schemes with a large number of steps. It is better to use all colours in a smaller
scheme than to pick colours from a larger scheme.

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latitude @degreesD

20

-20

-40
-60
-100

0.6

-50

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

50
longitude @degreesD

1.6

1.8

2.0

100

2.2

2.4

2.6

150

2.8

3.0

1018 moleculescm2

Figure 15: The smooth, continuous rainbow scheme from Fig. 13 used for sequential data. SCIAMACHY CO total
column in October 2004 [5].

latitude @degreesD

20

-20

-40
-60
-100

0.6

-50

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

50
longitude @degreesD

1.6

1.8
18

10

2.0
moleculescm

100

2.2

2.4

2.6

150

2.8

3.0

Figure 16: Top banded rainbow scheme from Fig. 14 used for the same sequential data as in Fig. 15.

version at the bottom is given by:

R/ 255 =

0.472 0.567 + 4.052

1 + 8.72 19.172 + 14.13

G/ 255 = 0.108932 1.22635 + 27.2842 98.5773 + 163.34 131.3955 + 40.6346 ,


B/ 255 = 1 1.97 + 3.54 68.52 + 2433 2974 + 1255 .

(3a)
(3b)
(3c)

If more than 10 steps are needed, the colours become difficult to discern. In that case consider using the
smooth version or (part of) one of the banded schemes in Fig. 14. The top banded scheme is based on the
temperature map of the weather forecast in newspaper de Volkskrant, tweaked to make the colours more distinct. The other banded schemes are based on distinct colour palette II and a reoptimization with 15 colours.
Examples of all types are shown in Figs. 15, 16 and 17. Figure 15 shows an advantage of the continuous
rainbow scheme over the earlier quantitative schemes when data is missing: because the whole range of
colours is equally saturated, there is a clear distinction between data and non-data. The other schemes have
pale colours at the low end or middle of the range. With a banded scheme as in Fig. 16, it is easier to determine the value at a particular location.

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0.5
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0.6

0.7

0.8

Figure 17: Bottom banded scheme from Fig. 14 used for sequential data. Albedo of snow- and cloud-free land at
2.1 m at a resolution of 7.5 km, using MODIS data from 419 July 2007.

Colour-Scheme Robustness

Figure 18 shows most schemes defined in this document used in a variation of the diagnostic map used by
the ColorBrewer website [4]. A scheme works if the following can be done without much effort:
in the random section at the left, distinguish every colour;
in each section with one main colour, find the outliers (one per colour) and distinguish them from each
other.
All schemes are shown with nine colours; in cases where fewer colours are used, the data will be clearer.

Colour-Blindness

People usually find out at an early age whether they are colour-blind. However, there are subtle variants of
colour-vision deficiency. The two main types are:
Green-blindness the cone cells in the retina that are sensitive to medium wavelengths are absent or have
their response shifted to the red (6% of men, 0.4% of women);

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Figure 18: Check for colour-scheme robustness: can all colours be distinguished in a random pattern and when
surrounded by another colour.

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Figure 19: The readable text in this image is the colour-vision diagnosis of the reader. It is not a puzzle: there is
no hidden message that requires much effort to see. The clarity of the text is not important, only whether it is
readable at all. Please do not make life-changing decisions based only on this test.

Red-blindness the cone cells in the retina that are sensitive to long wavelengths are absent or have their
response shifted to the green (2.5% of men).
Figure 19 is a test on these types. It works on a computer screen (when looking straight at it), projected with
a beamer and sometimes even in unfaded print, although this will depend on the quality of the equipment.
To simulate green-blindness [6, 7], all RGB colours in an image are converted to RGB colours with
1/ 2.2

,
(4a)
R0 = 4211 + 0.677G2.2 + 0.2802R2.2

1/ 2.2
G0 = 4211 + 0.677G2.2 + 0.2802R2.2
,
(4b)

1/ 2.2
B0 = 4211 + 0.95724B2.2 + 0.02138G2.2 0.02138R2.2
,
(4c)
with parameters R, G and B in the range 0255 and the output values rounded. To simulate red-blindness,
colours are shifted as follows:

1/ 2.2
,
R0 = 782.7 + 0.8806G2.2 + 0.1115R2.2

1/ 2.2
G0 = 782.7 + 0.8806G2.2 + 0.1115R2.2
,

1/ 2.2
B0 = 782.7 + 0.992052B2.2 0.003974G2.2 + 0.003974R2.2
.

(5a)
(5b)
(5c)

These conversions should be applied in sRGB colour space, i.e. they work on a standard video display, but
not necessarily on paper. The conversion can be performed with the free software suite ImageMagick. The
following two commands make green-blind and red-blind versions of original image original.png, respectively:1
convert original.png \( +clone -channel RG -fx "(0.02138+0.6770*G^2.2+0.2802*R^2.2)^(1/2.2)" \) \
+swap -channel B -fx "(0.02138(1+v.G^2.2-v.R^2.2)+0.9572*v.B^2.2)^(1/2.2)" greenblind.png
convert original.png \( +clone -channel RG -fx "(0.003974+0.8806*G^2.2+0.1115*R^2.2)^(1/2.2)" \) \
+swap -channel B -fx "(0.003974(1-v.G^2.2+v.R^2.2)+0.9921*v.B^2.2)^(1/2.2)" redblind.png

Figure 20 shows the result when they are applied to a triangle of normal colours (top): the green-blind simulation is at bottom left, the red-blind simulation at bottom right. Contrary to popular belief, pure red and green
1 These

are Unix-style commands, for Windows replace \( and \) by ( and ), and use a caret () instead of a backslash to end the first line.

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re
d-b

gr
ee
n-b

lin
dv

lin
dv
isi

isi

on

on

no
rm
a

lv
isi

on

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Figure 20: Colour scale in normal vision (top), green-blind vision (bottom left) and red-blind vision (bottom
right). These conversions are only approximate and are designed for a computer screen.
Table 2: Colours in Fig. 1 as seen in normal and colour-blind vision.
Palette I in normal vision.

Approximate green-blind simulation of palette I.

Approximate red-blind simulation of palette I.

can be distinguished. Instead, yellow/green and purple/blue combinations are problematic. However, there are
more unexpected pairs of colours that look the same, as used in Fig. 19. Table 2 shows colour-blind vision simulations of distinct colour palette I.

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Reference Documents
[1] Gaurav Sharma, Wencheng Wu, and Edul N. Dalal. The CIEDE2000 color-difference formula: implementation
notes, supplementary test data, and mathematical observations. Color Research and Application, 30:2130,
2005. http://www.ece.rochester.edu/~gsharma/ciede2000/ciede2000noteCRNA.pdf.
[2] Olaf Drmmer. ECI offset profiles, 2009. http://www.eci.org/doku.php?id=en:colorstandards:offset.
[3] Normcommissie Ergonomie van de fysische werkomgeving with Buro Blind Color. Functional use of
colouraccommodating colour vision disorders. Code of practice NPR 7022, Netherlands Standardization
Institute, Delft, April 2006.
[4] Cynthia A. Brewer. ColorBrewer, a web tool for selecting colors for maps, 2009. http://colorbrewer2.org.
[5] A.M.S. Gloudemans, M.C. Krol, J.F. Meirink, A.T.J. de Laat, G.R. van der Werf, H. Schrijver, M.M.P. van den
Broek, and I. Aben. Evidence for long-range transport of carbon monoxide in the southern hemisphere from
SCIAMACHY observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 33:L16807, 2006.
[6] Franoise Vinot, Hans Brettel, and John D. Mollon. Digital video colourmaps for checking the legibility of
displays by dichromats. Color Research and Application, 24:243252, 1999.
[7] Hans Brettel, Franoise Vinot, and John D. Mollon. Computerized simulation of color appearance for dichromats. Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 14:26472655, 1997.