Subtractive primaries

Subtractive primaries - yellow, magenta and cyan.
Subtractive synthesis - combination color system used in modern photography materials. The complimentary colors of yellow, magenta and cyan are formed to provide a reasonably full color image.

These colors-cyan, magenta, and yellow-are called the subtractive primaries. Subtractive Primaries Keep in mind that the additive primaries-red, green, and blue-are the basic starting colors from which all other colors of light can be created.

yellow
(1) one of the subtractive primaries used in process printing with a wavelength of approx 580 nanometers; (2) a pigment or dye having this hue.
yellowing
a defect manifested by a change in color toward a yellowish hue.

Magenta: One of the subtractive primaries the hue of which is used for one of the 4 color process inks. It reflects blue and red light and absorbs green light.

One of several color encoding system used by printers for combining primary colors to produce a full-color image. In CMYK, colors are expressed by the "subtractive primaries" (cyan, magenta, yellow) and black.

-Dye transfer print - method of producing color prints via three color separation negatives. Negatives are used to make positive matrixes, which are dyed in subtractive primaries and printed in register.

Printers mix Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow ink to create all other colors. Combining these subtractive primaries will generate black, but in practice black ink is used, hence the term "CMYk" color space, with k standing for the last character of black.

See also: Blue, Green, Cyan, Light, Color