Primary color

Primary colors (or primary colours in Commonwealth English) are sets of colors that can be mixed to make a useful range of colors. The primary colors are those which cannot be made by mixing other colors in a given color space.

For an additive color model, as in overlapping projected lights or in television and computer screens, the primary colors are red, green, and blue.

For a subtractive color model, as in mixing of pigments or dyes for printing, the CMY(K) set of primaries is often used. In this system the primary colors are cyan, magenta, and yellow.^[1] Other sets include the RYB system of red, yellow, blue, especially used by artists.^[2]

1. ↑ Matthew Luckiesh (1915). Color and Its Applications. D. Van Nostrand company. pp. 58, 221.
2. ↑ Chris Grimley and Mimi Love (2007). Color, space, and style: all the details interior designers need to know but can never find. Rockport Publishers. p. 137. ISBN 9781592532278.^{[permanent dead link]}