20
In this chapter
- Color Processes
- Color Image Layers
- Making Your Prints Match the Monitor
Color Theory
Color images can be created by adding primary colors together or by
subtracting primary colors from white light. The first color photographic
processes made use of additive color, but for the past 60 years subtrac-
tive processes have been the choice of photographers and printers.
The additive color process mixes the light of the primary colors red,
green, and blue (known as the RGB colors) to create all possible colors.
When equal amounts of red, green, and blue light are mixed, the result
appears white. Television tubes and computer monitors are the most
common examples of additive color systems.
The subtractive color process uses the inks or dyes of the primary colors
cyan (blue-green), magenta (a purplish pink), and yellow (known as the
CMY colors). The three CMY colors are complementaryto, or opposite,
the RGB colors used on the color wheel shown in Figure 20.1.