Category talk:CoA Lab-Commons

Overview: Color description

Historically grown, exist a flood of color describing templates - anytime somebody had an idea he created a new template.
Quite a lot of similar templates exist in the Legend family: Legend, Legend-small, Legend-line, Legend inline, Legend striped and Legtab or Leglin.
For more detailed descriptions Tbc had been developed, and for very simple taggings other Colorbox formatting templates.
In general, almost any of these templates can be used for almost any file, but there are also some specifications, mainly for coat of arms.
Another specification depends the parametrizing used in Image generation.

Colors on Coats of arms

For these files the specialized description COAInformation should be used; but when the general template Information is used it can remain.

Preferred notation in COAInformation

|tincture = a/b/g/BY 0

The special color shade, if any, was previously expressed e.g. |tincture = a/b/g/ss=BY or |tincture = a/b/g|ss=BY
When a special color shade, e.g. BY, is not needed of course it is not defined: |tincture = a/b/g

Preferred notation in Information

For all files but in special for SVG files color descriptions can occur with Image generation. When that is unwanted, it can be done with

|other fields = {{Tincture|a|b|g|BY|+}} or {{Tincture|o/b/s/AG/+}} (the "+" cares for a field name)

With Image generation the parameter is just

C=a/g/v/BW, together with all the other parameters this template can handle.

Of course, it is nevertheless possible to describe CoA colors with a Legend template or with Tbc.

Colors of other files

Colors of flags

Tincture can be used, while better suited seem Legend, or for detailed descriptions Tbc.

Colors of signs, icons, logos and other files

Tincture seems not so well suited, but Legend or Tbc will do it.

Legend family templates and Tbc

can be used with Image generation, as described there, or with other fields as described at Template:ColorString.
While legends (esp. Legtab) are easy to be used, the deatailled decribing Tbc needs more care. Many examples of their usage can be found.

Image generation has a very simple parametrizing for all color templates, but can afford a short time to become accustomed.
As soon as somebody has got the knowledge for the files he is creating, e.g. coats of arms (SVG or raster) he can use always the similar codes for their description.