

Adding black ink to the mix solves this problem. However, experience with various types of inks and papers has shown that when equal components of cyan, magenta, and yellow inks are mixed, the result is usually a dark brown, not black. In theory, the extra black component is not needed. The CMYK color space closes the gap between theory and practice. It adds black (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and blacK). The CMYK color space is a variation on the CMY model. If you start with white and subtract all colors equally, you get black. If you start with white and subtract no colors, you get white.

The following figures are color representations of the CMY color space. It is necessary to calculate differences in intensities to obtain the components R, G and B,Įssential for a display true colors on the computer screen (this is the reason of the subtractive name for CMY combination).ĬMY Subtractive color mixing. The method to restore the true colors image is more complex than in the case of traditional imagery RGB. CMY method to reconstitute the colors, well-known by photographers, who exploits a set of three filters known as subtractive:Ī cyan filter ( C) which transmits the blue and the green,Ī magenta filter ( M) which transmits the blue and the red,Ī yellow filter ( Y) which transmits the green and the red.
