What are color mixtures?

WHAT ARE COLOR MIXTURES?

A DISTINCTION IS MADE BETWEEN TWO BASIC TYPES OF COLOR MIXTURES: ADDITIVE AND SUBTRACTIVE. ADDITIVE COLOR MIXTURES WERE DISCOVERED IN 1860 BY MAXWELL. THE TERM MEANS THAT EVERY COLOR CAN BE PRODUCED BY MIXING TOGETHER IN DIFFERENT QUANTITIES RED, GREEN AND BLUE (R,G,B) COLORED LIGHT. IF THE THREE COLORED LIGHTS, - RED, GREEN AND BLUE, - ARE MIXED IN EQUAL PROPORTIONS, WHITE LIGHT IS OBTAINED. ADDITIVE COLOR MIXTURES ARE USED IN ELECTRONIC IMAGE PROCESSING AND IN TELEVISION TECHNOLOGY, WHERE PHOSPHOR DOTS THAT EMIT RED, GREEN AND BLUE LIGHT ARE EMBEDDED IN THE SHADOW MASK OF THE SCREEN. THE DOTS OF COLORED LIGHT CANNOT BE SEEN INDIVIDUALLY BECAUSE THEY ARE SO TINY, SO AN ADDITIVE COLOR MIXTURE IS FORMED AND THIS COLOR IS WHAT IS PERCEIVED.

HOWEVER, PIGMENTS AND DYES RATHER THAN LIGHTS ARE USED TO COLOR MATERIALS. IF THE THREE PRIMARY COLORANTS CYAN, MAGENTA AND YELLOW (C, M,Y) ARE MIXED IN EQUAL QUANTITIES, BLACK IS OBTAINED. THIS IS CALLED A SUBTRACTIVE COLOR MIXING. THIS IS BECAUSE COLORANTS SUCH AS DYES AND PIGMENTS ABSORB SOME OF THE INCIDENT LIGHT AND SUBTRACT IT FROM THE REFLECTED LIGHT. ADDING COLORANTS MAKE THE MATERIAL DARKER. SUBTRACTIVE COLOR MIXING OCCURS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC COLOR REPRODUCTION, PRINTING AND COLORING TEXTILES, PLASTICS, PAPER AND GLASS.