Spectra and

Colors
Spectral Colors
The distribution of colors produced when light is
dispersed by a prism

A spectral color is a color that is evoked by a single
wavelength of light in the visible spectrum, or by a
relatively narrow band of wavelengths. Every
wavelength of light is perceived as a spectral color, in a
continuous spectrum; the colors of sufficiently close
wavelengths are indistinguishable.
Primary Colors of Light
Red
Blue
Green

Mixing these colors can produce all of the
colors of the spectrum.
If you mix all colors of light, the resulting color
is white
Primary Colors of Pigments
Cyan
Yellow
Magenta

If you mix pigment colors it produces more darker
colors
If you mix all pigment colors, the resulting color is
black.



Addition of Colors
Bringing in new color components "adds" to the final
color, these are known as the additive primaries.
Subtraction of Colors
Bringing in new color components "subtracts" from
the final color, so these are known as the
subtractive primaries.

Application
Addition
Colors produced in the television

Subtraction
Colors produced in printing using printers
Colors produced in mixing paints, crayons