A gradient line going from opaque to transparent, for instance, can be used to have a darker foreground color fade into a lighter background color.

A graphic context includes the foreground color, the background color, the font of text, and other graphic parameters.

If the foreground color is completely transparent, the blended color will be the background color.

Conversely, if it is completely opaque, the blended color will be the foreground color.

The color used for the object(s) in the image is the foreground color while the rest of the image is the background color.

By default the colors are black and bright white, but the foreground color can be changed to any other color of the CGA palette.

In 640x200 graphics mode, the foreground color can be changed from its usual white to any of the other 15 colors.

Background colour is always white, while foreground colour depends on the maker; blue the most common, followed by pink, green, and brown.

Using this driver, text could be displayed in 16 different colors ("foreground" colors), with 8 optional background colors.

The table therefore allows for examining each letter of the alphabet in five different typefaces, foreground colors, and background colors.