Pixel Joint Forum: Can someone explain Neutralizer

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I'm still a beginner,I have a read the

"Topic: COLORING "I dont get it""
Okay as I understand from reading about it,to create neutralizer is either by 

1.Mixing a color with its complementary to get a grey or...

2.(As describe by Dawn)A low saturation color that can work as a shade in multiple ramps of different hues (versatile interpolator).

I'm sorry but what??,can anyone explain the second one in laymen terms 

Secondly I still can't wrap around my head what is a neutralizer and what does it do and why we need them.Okay so if I mix a color with its complementary,we get a grey and....? 
What i'm trying to say is that,i'm not sure what are we trying to achieve by using a neutralizer.

Author	Message
Zorro Midshipman Joined: 13 July 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 10	Topic: Can someone explain Neutralizer Posted: 10 March 2016 at 10:45pm
	I'm still a beginner,I have a read the "Topic: COLORING "I dont get it"" Okay as I understand from reading about it,to create neutralizer is either by 1.Mixing a color with its complementary to get a grey or... 2.(As describe by Dawn)A low saturation color that can work as a shade in multiple ramps of different hues (versatile interpolator). I'm sorry but what??,can anyone explain the second one in laymen terms Secondly I still can't wrap around my head what is a neutralizer and what does it do and why we need them.Okay so if I mix a color with its complementary,we get a grey and....? What i'm trying to say is that,i'm not sure what are we trying to achieve by using a neutralizer.
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yrizoud Commander Joined: 03 May 2021 Location: France Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Posted: 11 March 2016 at 1:51am
	2nd one : For example you can have grey-brown which fits well in both a reddish range of colors, and a yellow-brown range. About the point of all this : First, a limited palette, whether it's imposed by technology or aesthetic choice, has the effect that the image has a strong 'identity', everything seems to fit together. Examples : http://c64pixels.com/main.php (The commodore 64 offers 16 colors which work very well together, many images include most of them) http://cpc.sylvestre.org/musee/musee_mode0_demoecrans.html (An extremely saturated palette) The usefulness of neutralizers is that they can be used in combination with many colors, you get more options. See Dawnbringer's example image here, the entire image amazingly uses only 16 colors, but it looks as color-rich as if there was many more, and there's still the harmony of the whole. If you zoom in, you'll see that there is a rich "mix" of colors, yet your mind sorts everything. It's like looking at an impressionist painting : see the general impression that the following image produces, then zoom in to see the actual brush strokes. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Claude_Monet_-_Graystaks_I.JPG
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Zorro Midshipman Joined: 13 July 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 10	Posted: 11 March 2016 at 4:39am
	So let me get this straight,Neutralizer is (by the second category) a color that is low saturation so it can blend in and act as shade for multiple of hue(that blends well with it). As you said a grey brown can act as a shade for red an yellow,and(i'm just assuming here) a grey blue can act as a shade for blue and purple . And the point of doing so is to help lower the color count,because the lower the better(in pixel art). Did I get that right? But I still don't get the first category,mix a color with its complementary to get a grey.So okay I got a grey and.... Is the point just to get the color grey?
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yrizoud Commander Joined: 03 May 2021 Location: France Online Status: Offline Posts: 343	Posted: 11 March 2016 at 6:32am
	You got it. The best illustration is the image in this post: http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10695&PID=135415#135415 Colors circled in black appear multiple times (multi-usage = versatile) "the lower the better" is a simplification, but useful enough. About obtaining a grey : It's the opposite usage, when your palette doesn't contain an actual grey (of a specific lightness) and you mix colors to obtain it.
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