Contone
/ˈkɒn.təʊn/noun
A photographic or printed image containing continuous gradations of tone rather than discrete dots or bands.
Did you know?Contone photography preserves continuous light-and-dark transitions, while halftone images simulate them with dots—a visual deception central to mass printing.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ten-
“To stretch or extend”
Ancient Greek
Greek
tonos
“A stretching; tension; later, musical pitch or tone”
Classical Latin
Latin
tonus
“Tension, pitch, or tone”
14th Century
English
tone
“A musical sound, vocal quality, or manner of expression”
20th Century
English
contone
“A shortened compound formed from “continuous tone,” referring to an image with uninterrupted tonal gradations”
Modern English
English
contone
“A continuous-tone photographic or printed image”