Color

Color is the property of an object or substance to produce different sensations on the eye as a result of reflecting or emitting light.

Color Attributes

Every color can be described in terms of hue, saturation, and lightness.

Hue

Hue refers to the color family or color name (like red, green, or violet). Hue is directly linked to a color’s wavelength.

Saturation

Saturation (or chroma) refers to the purity of a color. As you increase saturation, a color appears more vivid.

Lightness

Lightness (also called brightness, luminance, or value) refers to the shade (darkness) or tint (lightness) of a color.

Tint

Tint is a mixture of a color with white.

Tone

Tone is a mixture of a color with grey.

Shade

Shade is a mixture of a color with black.

Color Models

Abstract mathematical models describing the way colors can be represented are called color models. Color models are independent from physical devices.

RGB (Additive)

Media that transmit light (like a screen) use additive color mixing.

The mixing of the additive primary colors red, green, and blue results in white (hence why it’s called additive).

CMY and CMYK (Subtractive)

Media that are reliant on reflecting light (such as paper) use subtractive color mixing.

The subtraction of its primary colors cyan, magenta, and yellow results in white.

In printing, an additional key color is offen added – black. If that wasn’t done, dark colors would look more brown than black.

Color Spaces

A color space is the implementation of a color model. Color spaces differ in encompassing colors.

RGB Color Spaces

Here are a couple common RGB color spaces. RGB values in one color space may differ in another.

sRGB
Adobe RGB
ProPhoto RGB
eciRGB

CMYK Color Spaces

Here you can find a few common CMYK color spaces.

Coated FOGRA27
Web Coated FOGRA28
Uncoated FOGRA29
ISO Coated v2

Other Color Spaces

CIELAB

CIELAB or L*a*b* is a color space based on human perception. It uses three axis: L* for lightness, a* for red and green, and b* for yellow and blue. These four colors correspond to human vision.

Pantone

Pantone colors aren’t based on a model. But they are a standardized system used by graphic designers and printers worldwide. Most of Pantone’s spot colors can’t be simulated with CMYK. Instead, it allows for many special colors to be produced, like metallics and fluorescents.

Color Profiles

Simply said, a color profile specifies how a device deviates from a color space.

Monitors may display colors differently (i. e. they may have a color cast). We need to profile that monitor so that it displays colors correctly according to the chosen color space.