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CIS 2041 : Computer Graphic Design
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Color Models
RGB - Red, Green, Blue
You probably learn basic
color theory in grade school including the three primary colors of
Red, Blue, and
Yellow. One thing to remember is that
your art teacher LIED to you. In order to make the colors match those
in a box of crayons, most art teachers describe Red, Blue, and Yellow as
the three primary colors. The three primary additive colors are really
Red, Blue, and
GREEN.
With these three colors you can make most of the colors humans can see
(note the word "most"), but only if you are working with colored LIGHT
and not colored ink. This is how your computer monitor and color
TV display colors. When you add the three colored lights together
you get white.
CMYK - Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black
In order to make most of the colors humans can see using inks, you start
with a different set of colors called the Subtractive Primaries.
These are CMYK: C stands for cyan (aqua), M stands for magenta (pink),
Y is yellow, and K stands for black. Technically you do not need
black since when you add the three colored inks together you get black,
but in the real world of printing black is always used. This is the
model used by color printers today.
HSB - Hue, Saturation, Brightness
Photoshop also uses the HSB model for color. In this model we use
the following:
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Hue - the color or location on the color wheel.
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Saturation - the amount of color. 0% = gray and 100% = full color.
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Brightness - the lightness or darkness. 0% = black and 100% = white.
Color Gamuts
A gamut is the range of colors that a color system can display or print.
The spectrum of colors seen by the human eye is wider than the gamut available
in any color model.
This page last modified on 10/15/2002
