The grayscale is shown using both dithered 1-bit graphics and a special manipulation of html table tags. To see the bottom part of the table as a smooth set of grays, you will have to be using a browser capable of rendering advanced table tags.

1-bit (dithered) Grayscale
Zone 0	Zone 1	Zone 2	Zone 3	Zone 4	Zone 5	Zone 6	Zone 7	Zone 8	Zone 9	Zone 10
8-bit (simulated) Grayscale
0	I	II	III	IV	V	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X

The table above suggests a scale of print values ranging from pure white to pure black. The are infinite values of gray between black and white. The values for black and white vary also, depending on the particular photographic paper that is used for the print.

Starting at Middle Gray each step in the grayscale used here is defined by a change of exposure of 1 F-stop. Ultimately, there is an arbitrariness involved in defining the grayscale the way we do. There are other ways of defining the steps in the scale between white and black. We use exactly 11 shades of gray; it would be possible to 'mark' less than 11 steps between white and black or more than 11 steps between between white and black. In the end, defining the grayscale the way Ansel Adams did (which is the grayscale we use here) is not strictly necessary but is instead photographically convenient.

The Zone System allows us to translate a visual impression of a subject onto photographic paper. We use certain points along the grayscale as sort of 'milestones' to talk and think about the translation between our mental impression of a subject and its final representation on photographic paper.

The interactive emulator uses this 1-bit print scale when it redraws the cartoon used in the Zone System Emulator. The grayscale above is not composed of continuous grays. It is dithered black-and-white. Using only black-and-white makes the interactive cartoon return to your screen faster, because it creates a smaller amount of data to be moved over the Internet.

The grayscale above is presented to help illuminate the machinations of these tutorials, Zone System emulator and of the Zone System itself.