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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]

Basis

Primary colors are not a part of light itself. Instead, they come from the eye's physiological response to light (the way the eye works). For humans, three primary colors are usually used. In other words, human color vision is trichromatic.

Light is a spectrum of the wavelengths that can be seen by the human eye. It is an infinite-dimensional stimulus space.^[3] However, the human eye normally has only three types of color receptors, called cone cells. Each color receptor respond to different ranges of the color spectrum. Humans and other species with three types of color receptors are known as trichromats.^[3]

The additive primary colors are red, green, and blue. Because of the response curves of the three different color receptors the human eye, these colors are optimal in the sense that the largest range of colors — a gamut — seen by humans can be made by mixing light of these colors. Additive mixing of red and green light, makes shades of yellow. Mixing green and blue makes shades of cyan. Mixing red and blue makes shades of magenta, such as purple. Mixing equal proportions of the additive primaries results in shades of grey; when all three colors are fully saturated, the result is white. This color space is called the RGB ("red, green, blue") color space.

Subtractive primaries

Media that use reflected light and colorants to make colors are using the subtractive color method of color mixing. In the printing industry, to produce varying colors, the subtractive primary colors yellow, cyan, and magenta are applied together in varying amounts. Subtractive color works best when the surface or paper is white, or close to it.

Mixing yellow and cyan produces shades of green; mixing yellow with magenta produces shades of red, and mixing magenta with cyan produces shades of blue. In theory, mixing equal amounts of all three pigments should make shades of grey, resulting in black when all three are fully saturated. In practice, they tend to make muddy brown colors. For this reason, a fourth "primary" pigment, black, is often used along with the cyan, magenta, and yellow colors.

The color space with the fourth pigment is the CMYK color space. The abbreviation stands for "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black" — K stands for "Kohle"^[source?] (German for coal) and is used to represent black^[source?] as 'B' could be confused with 'Blue'.

Mixtures of real materials like paint tend to be less precise. Brighter, or more specific colors can be made using natural pigments instead of mixing, and natural properties of pigments can interfere with the mixing. For example, mixing magenta and green in acrylic makes a dark cyan - which would not happen if the mixing process were perfectly subtractive.

Reference

↑ Matthew Luckiesh (1915). Color and Its Applications. D. Van Nostrand company. pp. 58, 221.
↑ 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]}
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Michael I. Sobel (1989). Light. University of Chicago Press. pp. 52–62. ISBN 0226767515.

[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]}

[sobel-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Michael I. Sobel (1989). Light. University of Chicago Press. pp. 52–62. ISBN 0226767515.

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:RYB.png|thumb|right|Primary colors]]'''Primary colors''' (or '''primary colours''' in [[British English|Commonwealth English]]) are sets of [[colour|color]]s that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. The primary colors are those which cannot be created by mixing other colors in a given color space.
+[[File:RYB.png|thumb|right|Primary colors]]'''Primary colors''' (or '''primary colours''' in [[British English|Commonwealth English]]) are sets of [[color]]s 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 screen]]s, the primary colors are [[red]], [[green]]<!-- Note: NOT YELLOW; this is about the RGB additive primaries, not RYB, which comes later -->, and [[blue]].
-For subtractive combination of colors, as in mixing of [[pigment]]s or [[dye]]s for printing, the CMYK set of primaries is often used. In this system the primary colors are [[cyan]], [[magenta]],and [[yellow]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Color and Its Applications
+For a [[subtractive color]] model, as in mixing of [[pigment]]s or [[dye]]s for printing, the CMY(K) set of primaries is often used. In this system the primary colors are [[cyan]], [[magenta]], and [[yellow]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Color and Its Applications
  | author = Matthew Luckiesh | year = 1915 | publisher = D. Van Nostrand company | pages = 58, 221
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0BgCAAAAYAAJ&dq=magenta+cyan+yellow+date:0-1923+printing&pg=RA1-PA221 }}</ref> Other sets include the RYB system of [[red]], [[yellow]], [[blue]], especially used by artists.<ref>{{cite book
@@ Line 11: / Line 13: @@
  | page = 137
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uVxa-_N4LQ4C&q=ryb%20color%20model%20paint&pg=PA137
  }}{{Dead link|date=September 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
-For additive combination of colors, as in overlapping projected lights or in [[television]] and [[computer screen]]s, the primary colors normally used are [[red]], [[green]]<!-- Note: NOT YELLOW; this is about the RGB additive primaries, not RYB, which comes later -->, and [[blue]].
-== Biological basis ==
+== Basis ==
-Primary colors are not a fundamental property of light but are related to the [[Physiology|physiological]] response of the eye to light (the way the eye works). For humans, three primary colors are usually used, since human [[color vision]] is [[trichromatic]].
+Primary colors are not a part of light itself. Instead, they come from the [[eye]]'s [[physiological]] response to light (the way the eye works). For humans, three primary colors are usually used. In other words, human [[color vision]] is [[trichromatic]].
-Fundamentally, light is a continuous [[spectrum]] of the [[wavelength]]s that can be detected by the human eye, an infinite-dimensional [[Stimulus (physiology)|stimulus]] space.<ref name=sobel>{{cite book | title = Light | author = Michael I. Sobel | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1989 | isbn = 0226767515 | pages = 52–62 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PDmAdQpmxl8C&dq=spectrum+color+infinite-dimensional+cones&pg=PA58  }}</ref> However, the human eye normally contains only three types of color receptors, called [[cone cell]]s. Each color receptor respond to different ranges of the color spectrum. Humans and other species with three such types of color receptors are known as [[trichromacy|trichromats]].<ref name=sobel/>
+Light is a [[spectrum]] of the [[wavelength]]s that can be seen by the [[human eye]]. It is an infinite-dimensional [[Stimulus (physiology)|stimulus]] space.<ref name=sobel>{{cite book | title = Light | author = Michael I. Sobel | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1989 | isbn = 0226767515 | pages = 52–62 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PDmAdQpmxl8C&dq=spectrum+color+infinite-dimensional+cones&pg=PA58  }}</ref> However, the human eye normally has only three types of color receptors, called [[cone cell]]s. Each color receptor respond to different ranges of the color spectrum. Humans and other species with three types of color receptors are known as trichromats.<ref name=sobel/>
-The '''additive primaries''' are [[red]], [[green]],
+The '''additive primary colors''' are [[red]], [[green]], and [[blue]]. Because of the response curves of the three different color receptors
+the human eye, these colors are optimal in the sense that the largest range of colors — a [[gamut]] — seen by humans can be made by mixing light of these colors. Additive mixing of red and green light, makes shades of yellow. Mixing green and blue makes shades of cyan. Mixing red and blue makes shades of magenta, such as [[purple]]. Mixing equal proportions of the additive primaries results in shades of [[grey]]; when all three colors are fully [[saturation (color)|saturated]], the result is white. This [[color space]] is called the [[RGB]] ("red, green, blue") color space.
-and [[blue]]. Because of the response curves of the three different color receptors in
-the human eye, these colors are optimal in the sense that the largest range
-of colors — a gamut — visible by humans can be generated by mixing light of these colours.
-Additive mixing of red and green light, produce shades of yellow or orange. Mixing green and blue produces shades of cyan, and mixing red and blue produces shades of purple and magenta. Mixing equal proportions of the additive primaries results in shades of [[grey]]; when all three colors are fully [[saturation (color)|saturated]], the result is white. The [[color space]] that is generated is called the [[RGB]] ("red, green, blue") color space.
 == Subtractive primaries ==
 [[File:SubtractiveColorMixing.png|200px|thumbnail|Subtractive color mixing]]
-Media that use reflected light and colorants to produce colors are using the [[subtractive color]] method of color mixing. In the printing industry, to produce the varying colors, apply the '''subtractive primaries''' [[yellow]], [[cyan]], and [[magenta]] together in varying amounts. Subtractive color works best when the surface or paper, is white, or close to it.
+Media that use reflected light and colorants to make colors are using the [[subtractive color]] method of color mixing. In the printing industry, to produce varying colors, the '''subtractive primary colors''' [[yellow]], [[cyan]], and [[magenta]] are applied together in varying amounts. Subtractive color works best when the surface or paper is [[white]], or close to it.
-Mixing yellow and cyan produces shades of green; mixing yellow with magenta produces shades of red, and mixing magenta with cyan produces shades of blue. In theory, mixing equal amounts of all three pigments should produce shades of grey, resulting in black when all three are fully saturated, but in practice they tend to produce muddy brown colors. For this reason, a fourth "primary" pigment, [[black]], is often used in addition to the cyan, magenta, and yellow colors.
+Mixing yellow and cyan produces shades of green; mixing yellow with magenta produces shades of red, and mixing magenta with cyan produces shades of blue. In theory, mixing equal amounts of all three pigments should make shades of grey, resulting in black when all three are fully saturated. In practice, they tend to make muddy brown colors. For this reason, a fourth "primary" pigment, [[black]], is often used along with the cyan, magenta, and yellow colors.
-The color space generated is the so-called [[CMYK]] color space. The [[abbreviation]] stands for "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black" — K stands for "Kohle"{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} ([[German language|German]] for coal) and is used to represent black{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} as 'B' could be confused with 'Blue'.
+The color space with the fourth pigment is the [[CMYK]] color space. The [[abbreviation]] stands for "Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black" — K stands for "Kohle"{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} ([[German language|German]] for coal) and is used to represent black{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} as 'B' could be confused with 'Blue'.
-In practice, mixtures of actual materials like [[paint]] tend to be less precise. Brighter, or more specific colors can be created using natural pigments instead of mixing, and natural properties of pigments can interfere with the mixing. For example, mixing magenta and green in acrylic creates a dark cyan - something which would not happen if the mixing process were perfectly subtractive.
+Mixtures of real materials like [[paint]] tend to be less precise. Brighter, or more specific colors can be made using natural pigments instead of mixing, and natural properties of pigments can interfere with the mixing. For example, mixing magenta and green in acrylic makes a dark cyan - which would not happen if the mixing process were perfectly subtractive.
 == Reference ==