Figure 2-1. Additive color system
(1) The area of overlap between the blue and green light produces cyan (blue green). The
area of overlap of the red and blue light produces magenta, and the overlap of the red and green light
produces yellow. Almost any desired color match can be produced by varying the amount of one of the
two colors used for producing that color.
(2) If you have equal proportions of red and green, the result is yellow. By increasing the
amount of red, the result is orange. Since matching a wide range of colors with red, green, and blue light
involves addition of the colored light, the primary colors are often identified further as the additive
primaries.
b. In color photography, the three colors produced by mixtures of additive primaries in pairs are
of particular importance. These colors, cyan, magenta, and yellow, are known as the subtractive
primaries. Since each represents white light minus one of the additive primaries, the subtractive
primaries are the complements of the additive primaries. For example, cyan and red light blend together
to give white light. Similarly, magenta is complementary to green, and yellow is complementary to blue.
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