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Hue & Saturation Effect

The Hue & Saturation effect allows you to shift colors and adjust their vibrancy across your ASCII art, perfect for color scheme changes and stylized looks.

Overview

This effect modifies colors using three controls:

  • Hue - Rotates colors around the color wheel
  • Saturation - Adjusts color intensity (vivid vs. muted)
  • Lightness - Makes colors lighter or darker
Info

Hue & Saturation works in HSL color space, making it intuitive to shift colors while preserving their relative relationships.

Using Hue & Saturation

Open Effects → Hue & Saturation from the menu

Adjust the sliders with live preview

Toggle preview to compare with original

Click Apply to commit or Cancel to discard

Parameters

Hue Shift

RangeEffect
-180°Shift colors counterclockwise
0°No change
+180°Shift colors clockwise

The hue shift rotates all colors around the color wheel:

  • +30° - Warm shift (reds → oranges, blues → purples)
  • +90° - Quarter turn (reds → greens, blues → reds)
  • +180° - Complementary colors (reds → cyans)
  • -90° - Opposite quarter turn

Saturation

RangeEffect
-100Fully desaturated (grayscale)
0No change
+100Maximum saturation
Info

Setting saturation to -100 creates a grayscale version of your artwork, useful for monochromatic effects.

Lightness

RangeEffect
-100Pure black
0No change
+100Pure white

Use lightness for subtle brightness adjustments that preserve color relationships.

Workflow Examples

Change Color Scheme

  1. Open Hue & Saturation
  2. Set Hue to +180° (complementary)
  3. Fine-tune with smaller adjustments
  4. Adjust Saturation if needed
  5. Apply

Result: Red/orange artwork becomes blue/cyan

Create Grayscale

Open Hue & Saturation

Set Saturation to -100

Leave Hue and Lightness at 0

Click Apply

Result: Full grayscale/monochrome version

Muted/Pastel Colors

For a softer, more subtle palette:

  • Saturation: -30 to -50
  • Lightness: +10 to +20
  • Hue: 0 (unchanged)

Vibrant/Neon Colors

For bold, eye-catching colors:

  • Saturation: +30 to +50
  • Lightness: -10 to +10
  • Hue: As desired
Warning

Very high saturation can cause colors to clip and lose detail. Use moderate values for best results.

Creative Uses

Day to Night

Convert a daytime scene to night:

  1. Shift Hue toward blue (+200° to +220°)
  2. Reduce Saturation (-20 to -40)
  3. Decrease Lightness (-20 to -30)
  4. Apply

Sepia/Vintage Effect

Create an aged look:

  1. Reduce Saturation to -60 to -80
  2. Shift Hue slightly toward yellow/orange (+15° to +30°)
  3. Adjust Lightness as needed
  4. Apply

Single Color Tint

While this effect applies globally, you can create a tinted look:

  1. Reduce Saturation significantly (-70 to -90)
  2. Use with Levels to add back color variation
  3. Combine with Remap Colors for precise control

Timeline Mode

Apply Hue & Saturation to all frames:

  1. Enable "Apply to all frames"
  2. Set your parameters
  3. Click Apply
  4. Entire animation receives the color shift
Info

Use Timeline Mode to maintain consistent color grading throughout your animation.

Combining with Other Effects

Recommended Order

  1. Levels - Adjust brightness/contrast first
  2. Hue & Saturation - Then shift colors
  3. Remap effects - For targeted changes
  4. Scatter - Add texture last

With Levels

  • Use Levels for brightness/contrast control
  • Use Hue & Saturation for color adjustments
  • They complement each other well

With Remap Colors

  • Hue & Saturation for global shifts
  • Remap Colors for specific color replacements
  • Use both for precise color control

Tips

  • Small hue shifts (±15°) create subtle variations
  • Large hue shifts (±90° to 180°) dramatically change the palette
  • -100 Saturation = instant grayscale
  • Preview toggle is your friend - use it often
  • Save before applying major color changes