What is Saturation?
Also known as: Chroma
The purity or intensity of a color. High saturation = vivid, pure hue. Low saturation = muted, washed-out, closer to gray. Independent of hue and lightness.
In detail
Saturation describes how far a color is from neutral gray. Pure spectral colors (a single wavelength) have maximum saturation; mixing in white, black, or the complementary color reduces saturation. Textile printing rarely produces fully saturated colors — fabric absorbs and scatters light, losing saturation versus the digital design file. Design at 90% saturation, expect 70-80% on fabric. Polyester satin holds saturation better than cotton voile (smoother surface = less scattering); silk holds it best (highest specular reflectance). Designers often boost saturation in the design file by 10-15% to compensate for substrate loss.
Example
A coral floral designed at saturation 85 prints on cotton voile at saturation ~72 (visible drop, looks slightly dusty). The same design boosted to saturation 95 in the file prints at saturation ~80 — closer to the designer's intent.