Saturation is the relative purity or intensity of a color. The more a color resembles the clear, fully illuminated colors seen in a prism, the more saturated it is said to be. Prismatic colors are as pure in saturation as is possible with pigments. Colors such as cobalt blue, cadmium yellow, and cadmium red are prismatic when they come out of the tube.
At first, it may be difficult to distinguish saturation from value, but these two attributes of color are completely independent of each other.
When colors are mixed with black, white, gray or a complement, they become less saturated. Saturation is a continuum, ranging from slightly muted colors, to completely neutral grays.
