ADDITIVE COLORS: Additive colors are produced by light; the more light produced, the brighter the colors. RGB (red/green/blue) colors are additive.
ANALOGOUS: Analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel.
COLOR: Result of a pigment's ability to absorb, transmit, and reflect light. Sometimes referred to as hue, color is the name, such as red.
COLOR RELATIONSHIPS: Also called color schemes or harmonies, these refer to the relationships of colors on the color wheel.
COLOR SEPARATION: The process through which the four (CMYK) process printing colors are separated into their primary colors to create negative and printing plates.
COLOR WHEEL: A visual representation of the color spectrum; an aid to color identification, choosing, and mixing.
COMPLEMENTARY COLORS: Colors opposite one another on the color wheel.
CMYK: Cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) are the four inks used for full color printing. "K" stands for "key" color, which is black. Also known as the four process colors.
GRADATION: Transition of light to dark or dark to light on a tonal scale.
HUE: The exact shade or tint of a color.
INTENSITY: The brightness or pureness of a color.
METAMERISM: When two colors appear to match under one condition but not under another.
MONOCHROMATIC: A color scheme involving the use of only one hue that can vary in value or intensity.
NEUTRAL COLORS: Black, white, gray, and variations of brown.
PIGMENT: The pigment is the element in paint that provides its color.
PRIMARY COLORS: The three primary colors are red, yellow and blue. All other colors are created from the primary colors.
PURE COLOR: A color that has not been mixed with another color.
RGB : RGB (red/green/blue) are the three colors used by computer monitors to display images. 100% of RGB will produce white.
SATURATION: Saturation represents how pure a color is. Low saturation looks light and transparent; opaque color has a high saturation.
SECONDARY COLOR: A color made by mixing two primary colors (red, blue, yellow) to make green, orange, and violet.
SHADE: A pure color to which black has been added. See also pure color.
SUBTRACTIVE COLORS: The subtractive colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Combined equally, the three colors (CMY) produce black, while in unequal amounts they create all the other colors.
TINT: A pure color to which white has been added, as opposed to a shade, which is a color to which black has been added; and tone, which is color with gray added to it. See also pure color.
TONE: Color with gray added to it. See also tint and shade.
TERTIARY COLORS: Tertiary colors are a combination of one primary color and one secondary color.