Colour Systems

Colour systems are methods in which colour is produced.
Additive  & Subtractive (also known as Reflective) are the 2 colour systems.

The Additive colour system is based on 3 colours. RED, GREEN & BLUE also referred to as RGB. these are the prime colours of this system instead of the primary colours we are used to (red, yellow, blue).

The concept here is simple. Anything that emits light such as the sun or a bulb is an additive colour. Red, green and blue are not the only colours that this system is capable of. Here different colours are created by a mixture of different wavelengths of light. Hues can be created by adding or decreasing light. The more light you add the brighter the colour, whereas the less light you add, the darker the colour. The negative space is apparent as the colour black as there is an absence of colour. The colour white on the other hand is a combination of colours.

Subtractive or Reflective colour is the complete opposite of additive. This system works on the basis of reflecting light rather than emitting it. Here the prime colours are Cyan, Magenta, Yellow referred to as CMY.

Colour is Determined by the way a certain pigment reflects different wavelengths of light as it makes contact and reflects into the human eye. In this system the negative or absence of colour is represented by the colour white, while black is the mixture of colour. Although it must be kept in mind that this is an imperfect system as light is not emitted it is reflected off the pigment which does not fully absorb light. Taking this into consideration a fourth pigment is used to compensate. This is called Key, and the famous CMYK was born. Key is a black pigment which is required as without it we would not be able to render the colour black properly and accurately.