Why red, green, blue and yellow? They are all primary colors, and contrast well to the human eye
GREEN is NOT a primary color!!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Green is a secondary color along with purple and orange, it is made by combining yellow and blue.
I work in the TV industry and so many people believe green is a primary color because they see "RGB" monitors (ok that was a while ago), or the red green and blue connections on HD TVS, "they must all be primary colors". Argh!
Red, green, and blue are the primary colors of light. They are the primary colors because they correspond to the three color receptors in our eyes.
Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the primary colors of ink. They are the *opposites* of red, green, and blue, respectively. Ink works subtractively -- you start from white and remove color -- while light works additively -- you start from black and add. This is why their primary colors are opposites.
The primary colors of ink are often simplified to blue, red, an
Ink works subtractively -- you start from white and remove color -- while light works additively -- you start from black and add.
I've never understood why that is. I know red paint reflects red light and green paint reflects green light. I know this because you can paint a black surface and it no longer looks black, so paint doesn't act purely like a filter. It definitely reflects light.
If I mix red and green paint, it seems to me that whenever light happens to hit a red paint molecule the red light component will be reflected and whenever it hits a green paint molecule the green light component will be reflected. If I mix the paints equally, it seems to me that 50% of the reflected light should be red and 50% should be green, thus equivalent to mixing red and green light.
Instead it seems that if you mix the 3 primary paint colors, you get something that should theoretically be black (but usually turns out grayish brown or purple). I'm not understanding how that works on a physical level.
You are thinking about it the wrong way around. In the magenta pigment, you have particles that absorb yellow light. (All light not absorbed is reflected). In Cyan pigment you have particles that absorb red light. yellow pigment the blue light is absorbed.
You mix the blue and cyan pigments, and the red and blue light is absorbed, leaving only the green light to be reflected.
Prime Colors... (Score:2)
Why red, green, blue and yellow? They are all primary colors, and contrast well to the human eye
GREEN is NOT a primary color!!! This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Green is a secondary color along with purple and orange, it is made by combining yellow and blue.
I work in the TV industry and so many people believe green is a primary color because they see "RGB" monitors (ok that was a while ago), or the red green and blue connections on HD TVS, "they must all be primary colors". Argh!
Re: (Score:2)
Red, green, and blue are the primary colors of light. They are the primary colors because they correspond to the three color receptors in our eyes.
Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the primary colors of ink. They are the *opposites* of red, green, and blue, respectively. Ink works subtractively -- you start from white and remove color -- while light works additively -- you start from black and add. This is why their primary colors are opposites.
The primary colors of ink are often simplified to blue, red, an
Re:Prime Colors... (Score:2)
Ink works subtractively -- you start from white and remove color -- while light works additively -- you start from black and add.
I've never understood why that is. I know red paint reflects red light and green paint reflects green light. I know this because you can paint a black surface and it no longer looks black, so paint doesn't act purely like a filter. It definitely reflects light.
If I mix red and green paint, it seems to me that whenever light happens to hit a red paint molecule the red light component will be reflected and whenever it hits a green paint molecule the green light component will be reflected. If I mix the paints equally, it seems to me that 50% of the reflected light should be red and 50% should be green, thus equivalent to mixing red and green light.
Instead it seems that if you mix the 3 primary paint colors, you get something that should theoretically be black (but usually turns out grayish brown or purple). I'm not understanding how that works on a physical level.
Re: (Score:2)
You are thinking about it the wrong way around. In the magenta pigment, you have particles that absorb yellow light. (All light not absorbed is reflected). In Cyan pigment you have particles that absorb red light. yellow pigment the blue light is absorbed.
You mix the blue and cyan pigments, and the red and blue light is absorbed, leaving only the green light to be reflected.