Why do printers have CMYK ink instead of RYB & black ink?
In: 2442
Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the primary colors of pigment, subtractive color.
Red, green, and blue are the primary colors of light, additive color.
Red, yellow, and blue aren’t actually a set of primary colors, that’s a lie we are told in elementary school. That color theory is really just an approximation of cyan, magenta, and yellow.
If you mix red and green light, you get yellow.
If you mix green and blue light, you get cyan.
If you mix blue and red light, you get magenta.
All 3 make white.
You can mix varying amounts of each color to make any color with light.
If you mix cyan and magenta pigment, the cyan absorbs red, and the magenta absorbs green, so you get something that only reflects blue, so you get blue.
If you mix yellow and magenta pigment, the yellow absorbs blue, and the magenta absorbs green, so you get something that only reflects red, so you get red.
If you mix cyan and yellow pigment, the cyan absorbs red, and the yellow absorbs blue, so you get something that only reflects green, so you get green.
If you mix all 3, you would get black if they were perfect pigments, but it ends up as more of a gray color. We use a black pigment to substitute it as well as to darken other colors.
Edit: greeb
Latest Answers