Subtractive color mixing

An 1877 color photo by Louis Ducos du Hauron, a French pioneer of color photography. The overlapping, subtractive yellow, cyan and red (magenta) image elements can clearly be seen.

Subtractive color explains the theory of mixing paints, dyes, inks, and natural colorants to create colors which absorb some wavelengths of light and reflect others. The color that an opaque object appears to have is based on what parts of the electromagnetic spectrum are reflected by it, or conversely by what parts of the spectrum are not absorbed. Image File history File links SubtractiveColor. ... Image File history File links SubtractiveColor. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 585 pixel Image in higher resolution (1548 × 1132 pixel, file size: 582 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) also since the author died in 1920. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 585 pixel Image in higher resolution (1548 × 1132 pixel, file size: 582 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) also since the author died in 1920. ... Louis Ducos du Hauron Louis Ducos du Hauron (December 8, 1837 – August 31, 1920) was a French pioneer of color photography. ... An undated color photograph from 1905 to 1915 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Color photography was explored throughout the 1800s. ... The word theory has a number of distinct meanings in different fields of knowledge, depending on their methodologies and the context of discussion. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up dye in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... An ink is a liquid containing various pigments and/or dyes used for coloring a surface to render an image or text. ... Color is an important part of the visual arts. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Legend γ = Gamma rays HX = Hard X-rays SX = Soft X-Rays EUV = Extreme ultraviolet NUV = Near ultraviolet Visible light NIR = Near infrared MIR = Moderate infrared FIR = Far infrared Radio waves EHF = Extremely high frequency (Microwaves) SHF = Super high frequency (Microwaves) UHF = Ultra high frequency VHF = Very high frequency HF = High...

Subtractive color systems start with white light. Certain wavelengths are subtracted from this white light by means of colored inks, paints or films placed between the viewer and the light source or reflective surface (such as white paper), creating the resultant color.

Conversely, an additive color system is a system that starts with no light (black) and wavelengths are added to produce different colors by means of adding light sources. In either an additive or a subtractive system, three primary colors are needed to match the trichromatic color vision of humans, since humans normally have three different types of cone cells in the eye. Additive color mixing: adding red to green yields yellow; adding yellow to blue yields white. ... The emission spectra of red, green, and blue phosphors that define the additive primary colors of a CRT color video display Primary colors, for humans, are sets of three colors that can be combined to make a whole gamut of colors. ... A trichromat is an organism for which the perceptual effect of any arbitrarily chosen light from its visible spectrum can be matched by a mixture of no more than three different pure spectral lights. ... Color vision is the capacity of an organism or machine to distinguish objects based on the wavelengths (or frequencies) of the light they reflect or emit. ... Normalised absorption spectra of human cone (S,M,L) and rod (R) cells Cone cells, or cones, are cells in the retina of the eye which only function in relatively bright light. ...

CMYK printing process

Main article: CMYK color model

In most color printing, the primary ink colors used are cyan, magenta, and yellow. Cyan is the complement of red, meaning that cyan acts like a filter that absorbs red. The amount of cyan applied to a paper will control how much red will show. Magenta is the complement of green, and yellow the complement of blue. Combinations of different amounts of the three inks can produce a wide range of colors; this is how artwork reproductions are mass-produced, though for various reasons a black ink is usually used as well (see limitations). This mixture of cyan, magenta, yellow and black is commonly called CMYK. CMYK is therefore an example of a subtractive color model. It has been suggested that process color be merged into this article or section. ... Color printing is the reproduction of an image or text in color (as opposed to simpler black and white or monochrome printing). ... Cyan (from Greek κυανοs, meaning blue) may be used as the name of any of a number of a range of colors in the blue/green part of the spectrum. ... Magenta is a color made up of equal parts of red and blue light. ... A yellow Tulip. ... Leafy green fountain in Wattens, Austria. ... The term blue may refer to any of a number of similar colours. ... Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardised products on production lines. ... Black cat, thought by some to cause bad luck (see superstition) Black is the shade of objects that do not reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum. ... It has been suggested that process color be merged into this article or section. ...

RYB

Standard RYB Color Wheel

Main article: RYB color model

RYB is a historical set of subtractive primary colors. It is primarily used in art and art education, particularly painting. It predates modern scientific color theory. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Mixture of RYB primary colors RYB is a historical set of subtractive primary colors. ... The emission spectra of red, green, and blue phosphors that define the additive primary colors of a CRT color video display Primary colors, for humans, are sets of three colors that can be combined to make a whole gamut of colors. ... For building painting, see painter and decorator. ... In the arts of painting, graphic design, and photography, color theory is a body of practical guidance to color mixing and the visual impact of specific color combinations. ...

RYB make up the primary color triad in a standard color wheel. The secondary colors VOG also make up another triad. Triads are formed by 3 equidistant colors on a particular color wheel. An illustration of a color wheel, pointing out the primary, secondary and tertiary colors. ...

The RYB primary colors became the foundation of 18th century theories of color vision, as the fundamental sensory qualities that are blended in the perception of all physical colors and equally in the physical mixture of pigments or dyes. These theories were enhanced by 18th-century investigations of a variety of purely psychological color effects, in particular the contrast between "complementary" or opposing hues that are produced by color afterimages and in the contrasting shadows in colored light. These ideas and many personal color observations were summarized in two founding documents in color theory: the Theory of Colors (1810) by the German poet and government minister Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and The Law of Simultaneous Color Contrast (1839) by the French industrial chemist Michel-Eugène Chevreul. Theory of Colours (Zur Farbenlehre in German) was a work published by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1810. ...  , IPA: , (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath. ... Michel Eugène Chevreul (August 31, 1786 – April 9, 1889) was an important French chemist whose work with fatty acids led to early applications in the fields of art and science. ...

See also

• CMYK color model
• Additive color
• Color film (motion picture)
• Primary color

It has been suggested that process color be merged into this article or section. ... Additive color mixing: adding red to green yields yellow; adding yellow to blue yields white. ... 35 mm film frames from color film print (positive) with optical sound track (no digital sound tracks present). ... The emission spectra of red, green, and blue phosphors that define the additive primary colors of a CRT color video display Primary colors, for humans, are sets of three colors that can be combined to make a whole gamut of colors. ...

References

• Berns, Roy S. (2000). Billmeyer and Saltzman's Principles of Color Technology, 3rd edition. Wiley, New York. ISBN 0-471-19459-X. 
• Stroebel, Leslie, John Compton, Ira Current, and Richard Zakia (2000). Basic Photographic Materials and Processes, 2nd edition. Focal Press, Boston. ISBN 0-240-80405-8. 
• Wyszecki, Günther and W. S. Stiles (1982). Colour Science Concept and Methods, Quantitative Data and Formulae. Wiley, New York. ISBN 0-471-02106-7.