When is additive color used

Part 3 will examine color from a different perspective by exploring the differences between additive and subtractive color. Unlike other elements of color theory, such as active and passive colors, which outline ways to use and mix colors in your projects, additive and subtractive color modes describe how color is created.

So before we can dig into additive and subtractive color, it helps to understand a little about how light and color work. At one end of the visible light spectrum are shorter electromagnetic waves that we perceive as blue; on the other end of the spectrum are longer waves that we perceive as red. Beyond these visible limits are shorter wavelengths such as ultraviolet light and x-rays, and longer wavelengths like infrared radiation and radio waves. Red, green, and blue are the predominant colors of the visible light spectrum.

These primary colors also form the basis of the additive color mode. Additive vs. The various tints are then printed in overlapping patterns to create a picture. An example of how applying each ink pigment - cyan, magenta, yellow and black - to a full-color photograph alters its color appearance. The CMYK model is mostly used for printing or other similar processes. It is important to choose the correct color model at the beginning of the project to get the best results.

If the final product will only appears on a screen or monitor, keep the color mode as RGB. Because additive colors use transmitted light, the colors appear much brighter and create a larger visible spectrum, producing millions of colors on a screen.

Subtractive colors use reflected light, so they appear muted in contrast. Limited by the ink pigments and tints, a printer can only replicate several hundred thousand colors.

Because of this, the RGB colors on a monitor do not always equally translate into CMYK colors when printed on paper or other substrates. Use this graphic as a quick reference to important basics for choosing between additive and subtractive colors for your next project. An infographic that compares the additive and subtractive color models and when to use each.

When those are combined, you get white. Essentially, this is the reverse of the subtractive process — as more color is added, the result is lighter and ends with white. RGB and Hexidecimal system use an additive process. Understanding the difference between subtractive and additive colors, and how each process works will help you determine what color process you would need to use for illuminated media like your website — you would want to work dark to light the additive process.

If you were printing a catalog, you would want to work light to dark paper to ink; the subtractive process. Skip to content. Subtractive color mixing means that one begins with white and ends with black; as one adds color, the result gets darker and tends to black. The CMYK color system is the color system used for printing. Those colors used in painting—an example of the subtractive color method.