1.1 This terminology standard defines terms used in the description of appearance, including but not limited to color, gloss, opacity, scattering, texture, and visibility of both materials (ordinary, fluorescent, retroreflective) and light sources (including visual display units).

1.2 It is the policy of ASTM Committee E12 on Color and Appearance that this terminology standard include important terms and definitions explicit to the scope, whether or not the terms are currently used in an ASTM standard. Terms that are in common use and appear in common-language dictionaries (see Refs (1-4)²) are generally not included, except when the dictionaries show multiple definitions and it seems desirable to indicate the definitions recommended for E12 standards.

1.3 The usage of terms describing appearance varies considerably. In some cases, different usage of a term in different fields has been noted.