Two Worlds of Color
There are two fundamentally different ways to create color: adding light or subtracting it. Screens emit RGB light — combining red, green, and blue in different proportions to create millions of colors. When all three shine at full intensity, we see white. Paints and inks work in reverse: each pigment absorbs certain wavelengths, so mixing more pigments removes more light. CMY pigments combined should theoretically produce black — total absorption.
The RGB Additive Model
In additive mixing, colors get brighter as you combine them. Red plus green makes yellow. Red plus blue makes magenta. Green plus blue makes cyan. All three make white. This is counterintuitive if you grew up mixing paints, where combining colors always gets darker. Every pixel on your screen is three tiny RGB sub-pixels, blending at a distance your eyes cannot resolve. Adjust the sliders to see how different RGB values combine into the full color spectrum.
The CMY Subtractive Model
Subtractive mixing starts with white light (or white paper reflecting all light) and removes wavelengths. Cyan pigment absorbs red, passing green and blue. Magenta absorbs green. Yellow absorbs blue. Mixing cyan and magenta absorbs both red and green, leaving blue. Mixing all three should absorb everything — but real-world pigments are imperfect, producing muddy brown instead of true black. That is why printers add a separate black (K) ink: CMYK.
Why This Matters
Understanding the difference between additive and subtractive mixing is essential for anyone working with color professionally. Designers must know why a color looks different on screen versus in print. Photographers must understand white balance and light mixing. Film and stage lighting technicians work entirely in additive space. And the math behind both systems — simple multiplication for subtractive, simple addition for additive — is the foundation of all digital color management.