Is there a better word than "colorizable"?

Question

In part of the software my company develops, the user is presented with a list of black-and-white images. The user can select one of these images and then can select a color for it, changing it from black and white to the color they selected.

We are currently calling these “Colorizable Images”, as opposed to the alternative list of “Existing Color” images. But I am not sure that colorizable is a real word and am concerned people may not understand.

Is there a better term for something for which one can change the color of? We considered colorable but the definition seemed completely wrong.

An example might help. The user will see:

a black and white image

And when they choose to colorize that blue, they get:

a blue and white image

If you spelled "color" as "colour", then "colourable" might work. ;) — FrustratedWithFormsDesigner, Aug 08 '12 at 20:31
Sorry, as much as I try I can't bring my fingers to type that word ;) — Josh, Aug 08 '12 at 20:32
I don't think that "colorizable" is going to confuse your audience. If need be, you could consider hyphenating it as "colorize-able". I suspect that "paintable" suffers from the same issues as "tintable". That said, why are you not calling them "Greyscale images"? — coleopterist, Aug 08 '12 at 20:51
@coleopterist Thanks. FYI they're not greyscale. They're literally black images over transparent backgrounds, and when they get colorized, they become E.G. red, blue, yellow, etc. Think of a stamp... Just added an example — Josh, Aug 08 '12 at 21:00
@GEdgar: I imagine they'd use colourable because the spelling is different from the spelling of colorable (the definition found by OP for colorable has nothing to do with colouring things). — FrustratedWithFormsDesigner, Aug 08 '12 at 21:03
A few dictionaries do have a second definition of colorable to mean what you want it to mean, like this one, and one of the sources cited here. Interesting what else that word can mean, though. — J.R., Aug 08 '12 at 21:04
@J.R. I know!!! How can it simultaneously mean Meant to deceive; not genuine and Seemingly true or genuine; plausible!? Head explodes — Josh, Aug 08 '12 at 21:05
@tchrist: I think the OP wants a single word to describe something that is capable of being coloured. — FrustratedWithFormsDesigner, Aug 08 '12 at 21:20
@tchrist FrustratedWithFormsDesigner said it exactly. Yes, I did color the image. I can only color some images, and some can't be colored. What do I call the images which can be colored? — Josh, Aug 08 '12 at 21:21
That's going to be an awfully large tab name, Images which can be colored — Josh, Aug 08 '12 at 21:35
Re-colorable or recolorable might do; also, would uncolored mislead? — James Waldby - jwpat7, Aug 08 '12 at 21:49
@Josh: For more good reading about words that have contradictory meanings, visit #29805. — J.R., Aug 08 '12 at 22:03
I'm with @jwpat7. Recolorable and recolor are widely used words in graphics. — JLG, Aug 09 '12 at 01:54
Just as an aside, colorize is a fun word that shows the "American vs British" spellings of color and -ize are not so cut-and-dried as you might expect. All of combinations are used in the wild: colorize, colourise, colourize, and even the odd colorise! (-: — hippietrail, Aug 09 '12 at 07:52

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 08 '12 at 20:40

11

Given that colorize is a verb that I've seen used in graphics editing software to apply color to greyscale images, and -able is a general English suffix meaning that something is capable of being done, I'd say that colorizable sounds like a perfectly good word to use.

answered Aug 08 '12 at 20:40

Jez

12,705

Thanks, that was my thinking, but I wasn't sure and wanted to run it past others... – Josh Aug 08 '12 at 20:46

Julien Ch. · Answer 2 · 2012-08-08T22:31:23.017

8

Why not simply use "customizable colour" or "custom coloured" images?

Do you need a single word?

edited Aug 08 '12 at 22:31

answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:19

Julien Ch.

558

2

I like "Custom Colored" images! – Josh Aug 09 '12 at 01:19

tenfour · Answer 3 · 2012-08-09T00:40:52.313

6

"Colorizable" sounds awkwardly long. I would personally go for the simpler, "Colorable", or "Ready-to-color".

Depending on the context though you might be able to stretch out and use something like "Customizable" or call the images "Templates".

edited Aug 09 '12 at 00:40

answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:13

tenfour

6,661

"Colorable"/"ready-to-color" suggest that you would be filling them in with color. – Mechanical snail Aug 09 '12 at 10:38

bib · Answer 4 · 2012-08-08T23:17:33.347

1

What about coining a phrase such as hue-shift images? If you need to have the capable part emphasized, you could say hue-shiftable, but I like the simpler form.

If you are wed to the word color you could use color-shift or color-shiftable.

edited Aug 08 '12 at 23:17

answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:24

bib

72,782

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 09 '12 at 07:44

1

Maybe any-color images could work.

answered Aug 09 '12 at 07:44

Henrik N

2,040

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 08 '12 at 20:24

0

If you want to avoid colorable, then tintable is what you’re looking for.

answered Aug 08 '12 at 20:24

MetaEd

28,488

No, it's way more than tinting. We're not coloring slightly, we're completely replacing the color. – Josh Aug 08 '12 at 20:27
1

It’s going to depend on your audience. Despite that definition, tinting does not necessarily connote “slightly”. Follow the link and check out the examples of usage on the right. – MetaEd Aug 08 '12 at 20:36
Our audience is graphic designers. They'll complain about "tinting"... I know them too well :-) – Josh Aug 08 '12 at 20:38
Ouch. That they will. I concede defeat. – MetaEd Aug 08 '12 at 20:41
Sorry! I appreciate the answer! – Josh Aug 08 '12 at 20:46

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 08 '12 at 21:09

0

This may be way off base, but what about calling them "line drawings"? Or "line drawn images"?

answered Aug 08 '12 at 21:09

JAM

7,863

Sorry, my example was confusing. This example is a line drawing but not all of them are... – Josh Aug 08 '12 at 21:27
Right, so the user can change the actual black of the image to a colour? Got it. Line drawings wouldn't work. – JAM Aug 08 '12 at 21:38

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:10

0

Photoshop experts would say "overlayable".

answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:10

Elberich Schneider

4,404

1

I cannot do anything if photoshop experts woud say "overlayable" in situations like that! – Elberich Schneider Aug 08 '12 at 22:24

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Aug 09 '12 at 11:05

0

You could call these "Open color images" and "Closed color images". Otherwise, colorizable fits too since "Colorizable images" are images that can be colorized, which is the case.

answered Aug 09 '12 at 11:05

Zippo

101

score -1 · Answer 10 · edited Sep 09 '12 at 19:29

-1

Colormorph is a more accurate descriptor and might appeal to techie consumers.

edited Sep 09 '12 at 19:29

RegDwigнt

97,231

answered Sep 09 '12 at 13:18

Dr Suzy C

1

2

This answer is extremely short. It could be improved by citing relevant facts, references, or specific expertise which support the answer, or by going into more detail: the how and the why of the answer. – MetaEd Sep 09 '12 at 23:27

score -2 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:31

-2

i think rephrase altogether to shift the focus off the images having some capability. inanimate objects don't really have capabilities. put the focus on the user having the action available. "images for coloring by user", "the user introduces color to the black and white images"

answered Aug 08 '12 at 22:31

Chris

909

That's a long tab / button name. I am looking for an adjective. – Josh Aug 09 '12 at 12:17
how many pixels do we have to work with? – Chris Aug 09 '12 at 14:06

Is there a better word than "colorizable"?

11 Answers11