custom palette

Definition: Set of colours selected by user or software for specific purpose, usually to ensure satisfcatory reproduction of image with minimum number of different colours in order to minimise file size.
Lots from less
Few images actually use more than thousands of different colours and most images are satisfactorily reproduced with a couple of hundred or so colours - particularly when only seen on monitors. In software designed to compress image files, it is surprising how much colour you can remove (with a consequently smaller file) and still have a perfectly acceptable image. And where you pay for it is not in the bright colours, as you might expect, but in the pastel tones such as skies or skin where the lack of data shows up as posterization. 

Related Terms: GIF

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