A CRASH COURSE IN COLOR THEORY PART ONE

Color Space & Visible Light

+ -
RGB CMY
Additive Subtractive
WHAT DEFINES
Red / Green / Blue A COLOR? Cyan / Magenta / Yellow
Color is based on contrasts on three
relative attributes that define all colors:
Definition: Color created by adding Hue, Saturation & Brightness or HSB. Definition: Color created by subtracting
(mixing) light of 2 or more colors. (absorbing) parts of the spectrum of
Adding all THREE colors yields light present in white light. Subtracting
WHITE. Results obtained by all light (all color) yields black. Results
light emission. obtained by light reflection.

Uses: monitors, projected light Uses: pigments, dyes, photography, ink

and film

GAMUT
Any three “primary” colors of light
ss
ion
e
Hu

(RGB, represented by the solid line) or

tne
at

pigment (CMY, represented by the

igh
tur

dotted line) can yield only a limited

Sa

Br

range of colors called a “gamut,” which

is always smaller than the full range of
colors that humans can percieve,
currently estimated at 10 million
colors.

An estimated 50% of
women (with two X
chromosomes) and
8% of men (with one COLOR BLINDNESS
X chromosome) It is estimated that abount 10% of males
have four cone cell and 1% of females are color blind. To
photopigments and those with normal color vision, the number
corresponding 74 should be clear. Viewers with
increased chromatic dichromacy or anomalous trichromacy
discrimination. Out (Red-Green color blindness, the most
of those, it is
believed that 2 to 3% common type) may read it as “21,” and
of women (or those viewers with achromatopsia may not see
with XX chromosomes) are numbers.
true tetrachromats, able to
see more than a 100 million
colors.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/32-bit#Images
How well do you see color? Take the test at: http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2006/JenniferLeong.shtml
http://xritephoto.com/ph_toolframe.aspx?action=coloriq http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachromacy#Possibility_of_human_tetrachromats
dirigodev.com