There are at least 140 commonly recognized shades of purple.
While it's impossible to give an exact, definitive number for all shades of purple, due to the continuous nature of color and the subjectivity of perception, a resource from 2020 lists 140 distinct shades with defined color codes. This number represents a set of purples that are commonly named and used. The number of purples you could theoretically create is vastly larger, and dependent on the precision of the mixing method.
Here's why determining an absolute number is difficult:
- Color is continuous: The spectrum of color doesn't have hard boundaries. You can mix colors in infinitely small increments, creating an infinite number of shades.
- Subjectivity of Perception: What one person considers a distinct shade, another may see as the same.
- Varying Definitions: There's no universal authority defining and naming all the possible colors. Different cultures and organizations may have different naming conventions and perceived color boundaries.
- Technology Limitation: Computer screens display colors using a limited set of red, green, and blue values. This technology may reduce the total number of shades displayed, because the software used limits the total amount of shades of each colors that are displayed.
Therefore, while one can state that there are 140 commonly recognized shades of purple, the number of possible shades is far greater.
