User:Qrystal/Dye guide

The purpose of this article is to provide a guide to the use of Dye, beyond the basics of what a Vial of Dye is and how to use the Dye Preview panel.

Effect of Dye on different items
The same colour of dye may look very different when applied to different items:
 * Some items only have a few parts that are coloured (for example, Elementalist Pyromancer's Armor is affected only along the trim).
 * Some may dye brightly while others are very pale (for example, using purple on female Mesmer armor compared to female Elementalist armor) (CHECK THIS!).
 * Some items (like the Chaos Axe) dye a completely different colour than the colour that was applied.

It is important to use the Dye Preview panel to ensure you are satisfied with the results.

CAUTION: The Dye Preview panel does not appear when applying Dye to storage items like your Backpack, Belt Pouch, or Bags. It is very easy to accidentally dye these items when you are intending to dye something inside of it.

The colour of an item before dying has no effect on the new colour. The new colour completely replaces the old one.

Dye mixing
Using the Dye Preview panel, it is possible to explore multi-vial combinations of dye and see their combined effect on your armor without wasting any dye in the process. Even still, it is useful to have some idea of what colours should make up the colour you want, and some mixes are easier than others.

How to mix dye

 * Click the first Vial of Dye that you want to use, and then click the item you want to dye. This opens the Dye Preview panel.
 * Drag a different-coloured Vial of Dye to the next available slot in the panel to see how the mix of dyes affects the item. (You cannot drag a second Dye of the same colour.)
 * Drag a third and fourth Vial if desired. These Dyes may be the same as either the first or second Dyes, because each is being added to the blend of the first two colours.

Other than the second Dye being required to be different than the first, the order of Dyes doesn't matter (so blue + green + green + blue is the same as blue + green + blue + green). (CHECK THIS!)

Colour-mixing basics
There are three primary colours of dye: red, yellow, and blue.

Secondary colours can be made by combining any two primary colours: red + yellow = orange red + blue = purple yellow + blue = green The secondary colours already exist in Vials in-game, so it is not necessary to mix them. However, (CHECK THIS!) the colours are slightly different (How?).

Tertiary colours can be made by combining a secondary with one of its component primaries. For example: orange + red = reddish orange orange + yellow = yellowish orange But mixing orange with any other colour will give some shade of brown: orange + blue = brown orange + purple = reddish-brown orange + green = yellowish-brown

Mixing all three primaries, if they were of exactly the right balance of shades and saturations, should theoretically give black; however, in practice, a shade of brown is usually obtained.

Mixing any two secondaries will also result in some other shade of brown.

Other combinations in between these ones should be fairly predictable.

Mixing with Black, White, Brown, or Grey
Adding black to a mix of dyes darkens the mix. Adding white lightens the mix. Adding brown or grey reduces the saturation, making vivid colours less strong. Brown has a warmer effect than grey. (CHECK ALL THIS!)

Obtaining tricky colours
There are several ways to attempt each of the following tricky shades, and so it is best to experiment to see which is most appealing to you. Keep in mind that all items dye differently.

Pink
red + purple = "hot pink" red + white = "light pink" etc.

Vial of Dye (Mixed)
Prior to the implementation of the Dye Preview panel, the only way to mix dye was to do it right in the vials themselves, creating a Vial of Dye (Mixed). These cannot be used with the new Dye Preview panel, and simply dye the chosen item outright. They also cannot be mixed any further.

History of Dye

 * Date of change: October 25, 2006 update
 * Dye Remover
 * Vial of Dye (Mixed)
 * old default colours of armor
 * old external links to colour tables

Future location
Dye guide