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halftone

[haf-tohn, hahf-]
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noun
  1. Also called middle-tone. (in painting, drawing, graphics, photography, etc.) a value intermediate between light and dark.
  2. Printing.
    1. a process in which gradation of tone in an image is conveyed by first photographing the image through a screen to break up the continuous tones of the image into minute, closely spaced dots, then using the print obtained to produce a metal plate by photoengraving, and finally using the plate to reproduce the original image by letterpress or offset printing.
    2. the metal plate used in such a process.
    3. the print obtained in such a process.Compare line cut.
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adjective
  1. pertaining to, using, used in, or produced by the halftone process: a halftone screen; a halftone print.
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Origin of halftone

First recorded in 1645–55; half + tone
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for halftone

Historical Examples

  • The fine checks in the pileus are clearly seen in the halftone.

    The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise

    M. E. Hard

  • Which is how I happen to spot this folder with the halftone cut on it.

  • In both cases, negatives are made of both the halftone and fine copies.

  • Credit for each photograph is given with the halftone as it appears.

    The Bontoc Igorot

    Albert Ernest Jenks

  • Nine separate men handle each engraving in the halftone department.

British Dictionary definitions for halftone

halftone

noun
    1. a process used to reproduce an illustration by photographing it through a fine screen to break it up into dots
    2. the etched plate thus obtained
    3. the print obtained from such a plate
  2. art a tonal value midway between highlight and dark shading
  3. music, US and Canadian another word for semitone
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adjective
  1. relating to, used in, or made by halftone
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012