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Color Systems - RGB & CMYK
RGB or CMYK?
The color systems used by scientists and artists are entirely different. An artist will mix blue and yellow paint to get a shade of green; a scientist will mix green and red light to create yellow. The printed page in a magazine is yet another system.
It's important to define the two different kinds of color that we see in the world as the first step in understanding color systems. First, there's the color you can touch, such as the skin of an apple or a painted wall. These colors are part of the surface of an object. Next, there's the color you can't touch, such as a beam of red light and the colors produced by your computer monitor. Colors generated by light are part of one color system. The tangible colors which are on the surface of objects or on the printed page are another color system.
The following illustrations and descriptions define the different color systems.
Additive Color System
Red - Green - Blue (RGB)
Scientists recognize the light primaries of red, green and blue. When combined, red and green light rays produce yellow, blue and green produce cyan, red and blue produce magenta. Red, green and blue mix to create white (light). Link to How the Eye Sees Color for more information on the "additive" definition of light.
This color model is used in computer monitors, television sets, and theater. If you put your eye up against your television screen you might something like the illustration below.
This color model is used in computer monitors, television sets, and theater. If you put your eye up against your television screen you might something like the illustration below.
Red, green and blue dots of light are creating the image. Where red and green overlap, you'll see yellow.
This system applies only to devices employing light, such as computer monitors and television sets.
Subtractive Color System
Red - Yellow - Blue
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Primary Colors
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Secondary Colors
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Tertiary Colors
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Most artists recognize red, yellow and blue as the 3 basic primary colors. These primaries are the pure colors which can not be created by mixing any other colors. Secondary hues are the result of mixing any of the two primaries. Tertiary colors result from mixing the secondary hues.
In subtractive color theory, all colors mix to yield black. Link to "How the Eye Sees Color" for more information about why this color system is subtractive.
Cyan - Magenta - Yellow - Black
In the print industry, cyan, magenta, yellow and black are used as the primary colors. When you mix all the colors, the result is gray. If you look at a printed page with a magnifying glass you might see something like the illustration below.
The difference between RGB and CMYK:
RGB and CMYK are the two most prominent and typical color spaces / formats / models used in the world of design. In print, web, or digital media, a basic understanding of what the differences are, means a fledgling designer can vastly improve the quality of a project.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is the typical color space used by electronic displays, monitors, pda screens, etc. In RGB, images are created by combining red, green, and blue light. Process of addition can create millions of different colors by using varying concentrations of the primaries. So when designing a website, web banner, buttons, e-newsletter, etc., your images and files should be set to this profile. Chances are any image you receive will be RGB by default, but it’s always a good practice to check.
CMYK is the primary color model used by color printers. So for flyers, brochures, advertising, newsletters, direct mail pieces, etc., a CMYK profile may provide better quality results or a better expectation of what your results will be. CMYK creates different colors in a subtractive process using four colors or inks: cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow, and black. Chances are your inkjet, bubblejet, or laser printer at home has a CMYK or CMYK variant setup. There are many RGB colors that CMYK printers cannot reproduce. Something that looks good on the monitor may not retain that quality in the printed piece.
Why Colours Look Different
RGB System – Screen Viewing Only!
can be due to a number of reasons, whether it be due to individual screen settings such as brightness and contrast or even may be due to different monitor manufactures; i.e. Sony or LG.
RGB colour system is only suitable for screen reproduction such as LCD and CRT computer monitors and TV screens. This is not suitable color matching for printing or to colour match from, as each screen may represent colours differently. What may look fine on one screen, may be look completely different on another. This
The red, green, and blue components are the amounts of red, green, and blue light that an RGB color contains and are measured in values ranging from 0 to 255. To see these values, open a drawing program on your computer and delve deep into the color settings. Also you can view some values on new models of CRT and Digital Monitors.
The RGB color model is an additive color model. Additive color models use transmitted light to display color. Monitors use the RGB color model. When you add red light, blue light, and green light together, so that the value of each component is 255, the color white displays. When the value of each component is 0, the result is pure black.
The RGB color model is an additive color model. Additive color models use transmitted light to display color. Monitors use the RGB color model. When you add red light, blue light, and green light together, so that the value of each component is 255, the color white displays. When the value of each component is 0, the result is pure black.
CMYK/Process – Digital printing
The CMYK, also known as Process colours are generally used in digital printing for signage. CMYK refers to the four colours used; Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black to generate a colour. It is these four colours which are mixed together to make up other colours, much the same principal to how paint is colour matched.
One thing to note is that CMYK colours may not look identical to physical colours due to the restriction to the number of colours CMYK can reproduce and that Inks perform differently. For example, orange is very hard to reproduce, and can look very muddy in when printed digitally. We take care to register all images with our four color bars applied to all printing we do. In this manner, the production crew can quickly and visually check the print at different stages. If a final color is not accurately made, there is little we can do. It is a technology thing.
The CMYK colour model defines colour using the following components:
C Cyan Ink (this is a blue ink colour)
M Magenta Ink (this is a pink ink colour)
Y Yellow (yellow ink)
K Black (Black ink, the character ‘k’ is used so as not to get confused with the ‘b’ in RGB. RGB was invented first we believe.)
The cyan, magenta, yellow, and black components are the amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink that a CMYK colour contains and are measured in percent from 0 to 100.C Cyan Ink (this is a blue ink colour)
M Magenta Ink (this is a pink ink colour)
Y Yellow (yellow ink)
K Black (Black ink, the character ‘k’ is used so as not to get confused with the ‘b’ in RGB. RGB was invented first we believe.)
The CMYK colour model is a subtractive colour model. Subtractive colour models use reflected light to display colour. Printed materials are produced using the CMYK colour model. When you combine cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, so that the value of each component is 100, the result is black. When the value of each component is 0, the result is pure white.
The cyan, magenta, yellow, and black components are the amounts of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink that a CMYK colour contains and are measured in percent from 0 to 100.
The CMYK colour model is a subtractive colour model. Subtractive colour models use reflected light to display colour. Printed materials are produced using the CMYK colour model. When you combine cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, so that the value of each component is 100, the result is black. When the value of each component is 0, the result is pure white.
The CMYK colour model is a subtractive colour model. Subtractive colour models use reflected light to display colour. Printed materials are produced using the CMYK colour model. When you combine cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, so that the value of each component is 100, the result is black. When the value of each component is 0, the result is pure white.
The dots of a 4-color process printed photo, enlarged.
While using PMS colors is best for something that prints in limited colors, imagine if you had to pre-mix each color used within a photograph. It would be nearly impossible. Instead, the CMYK or Four-Color process is used. For every possible shade and color, this process determines the percentages of each of the four colors (CMYK) needed to make that color. This is then translated into very small dots. The human eye blends these colors together to see the full spectrum of color.
CMYK is used whenever there are full color images, or when the number of colors makes it more practical than using just PMS colors. CMYK is also the primary system for digital printing, as specific pantone colors can not be put into a inkjet or laser printer.
Full color, offset (professional) printing is always CMYK. However, a large press can accommodate the four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow and black plus additional Pantone colors if necessary. Sometimes that is done if there are photos that require CMYK, but a logo that prints best used the actual Pantone ink. In that case, it would be called a five color print job.
The difference between RGB and CMYK:
HEX Triplet - Web Colours:
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