Simple, Practical Color Theory

The mastery of color theory, relations and harmonies is one of the primary steps to uncovering the full beauty and potential of your images (in the realms of art, design and/or photography). Find out more in this simple, practical, colorful guide. Color Models Depending on your background and your purpose, you will view primary colors differently. Primary color models can be divided into two categories: additive and subtractive. The additive primary colors are obtained by light: red, green and blue (RGB). The subtractive primary colors are obtained by the subtraction of light: cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY). Color Model Application: RGB: Photography, video/film and design. CMYK: Print design. RYB: Art, painting and design. RGB and RYB Confused? In regards to design, the purpose of the color wheel is to aid the creation of visually harmonious color schemes not to confuse you. Now that we’ve covered the various color models and their uses, we can proceed with confidence. RGB Color Model Triad Hue

Color Management: Calibration and Profiling – Graphic design tut Introduction Welcome to the second post in our color management series. Be sure to check out Part One if you haven’t already done so. Today we’re going to talk about the importance of calibrating and profiling your input & output devices in your color management workflow. Profiling the display When we’re looking at a photo, or anything for that matter, on our monitor display, we’re basically looking at a huge number of pixels, each of which displays a certain color. Furthermore, the monitor display changes the way it interprets color information overtime, so you need to constantly tune your monitor to display color correctly, and this is when calibration and profiling of the monitor display comes into place. Profiling the display has two parts to it. This being said, this process is creating a profile for your monitor that will always work as a link between your computer and your display to make sure the screen is displaying the right color it’s being told by your computer to display.

The Science Behind Design Color Theory Color Theory has been a subject of interest for years in the art community. The rules and guidelines hold true when working on digital projects just as much as physical items. There is a lot to learn in the subject of color so I’m going to cover just some of the key points. Color Terminology Terms are very important when it comes to working as a designer. Hue is one I’m sure most have at least heard of before. Most web developers are familiar with RGB values for hues. Saturation is another buzz word designers have probably heard of but never truly defined. Color sets with less saturation work best as background elements in a website. Their light-blue background is the perfect level of saturation to fit in a background setting. Tone or value is a term most haven’t heard of. As an example you’ll find more tone in a bright yellow or red than with navy blue. Shades and tints are polar opposites of each other and fit in similar to tones. Relationships for Color Theory Color Theory in Practice