Graphic Designers deal with tints and shades in their work. Tints and shades deal with the contrast of dark and light which determine the strength of the colors of an image, rather then the hue. So it is the contrast in values that effects readability of text, for instance, not the hue in itself. Tints and shades are the less saturated version of a color and are are used more often then the full saturated version of a color. Diluting a fully saturated color results in tints and shades.
You can see in this example how tints effect readability.
Shade: a darker version of a hue, shades are sometimes described as hues with black added. Can be referred to as “added dark”
Tint: a lighter version of a hue, tints are sometimes described as hues with white added. Can be referred to as “added light”
Tinting will increase the light reflective properties of a hue. A small amount of white added to a hue will create a strong and brilliant tint and create a stronger effect then the original saturated hue. Shades do the opposite of this. They dillute the intensity of a hue, since black aborbs all wavelengths of light. Using grey can dilute a pure hue, as well as adding some of the compliment of the color.
Here is an example that shows how tint and shade alter the hue of pure red.
Dominique Designs 