Color Terminology Flashcards
(31 cards)
Subtractive Color
An acetate envelope printed with transparent primary colors transforms the cover of publication and creates multiple triangles in varying hues and tones as it is removed.
Additive Color
System used on monitors and televisions, based on RGB (red, green, blue). When combined, these form white light.
Analogous Color
Colors that lie adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
CMYK
Cyan, magenta, yellow, key (black): the four colors that make up the full-color printing process.
Complementary Color
Colors that lie opposite each other on the color wheel.
Gamut
The complete range of colors available within one system of reproduction- for example, CMYK or RGB gamut.
Primary Color
Red, yellow or blue
Secondary Color
A mix of any two primaries: orange, green, or violet.
Spot Color
Any flat color, like Pantone or Toyo colors, printed as a solid, and not made up of CMYK.
Subtractive Color
System used in printing, based on CMYK colors.
Tertiary Color
The resulting color formed when an equal amount of a primary and a secondary color are mixed. The Primary and secondary colors must be beside each other on the color wheel.
On- Screen Color
Additive primaries and RGB light are used to create colors on computers, televisions, and monitors. Combined, the additive primaries result in white light.
Printing Primaries
Subtractive primaries and CMYK - cyan, magenta, yellow and key ( black) - are the primaries used in printing. When combined, subtractive colors make black.
Advancing and Receding Color
Colors in the red spectrum appear to advance to the human eye, whereas those in the blue spectrum appear to recede.
Color Modes
The expression of color in numerical values that enable us to mix them efficiently: CMYK, LAB, RGB.
Simultaneous Contrast
The human eye tends to differentiate between two neighboring colors by emphasizing their differences rather than their similarities- background colors affect foreground colors ( the image).
Vibration
Complementary colors of equal lightness and high saturation tend to make each other appear more brilliant, and cause the illusion of motion along the edges where they meet.
Weight
Colors differ in perceived “weight”. For example, if a man were to move two large boxes equal in size, one pale green and the other dark brown, he would probably pick up the green one because it appeared lighter. It is generally assumed that blue-greens look lighter whereas reds appear stronger, and therefore heavier.
Grayscale
Squares in tones of black and white create half tones and can define light and shadow in both an abstract and a representational way. Subtle variations in the value of each square will create gradients that blend seamlessly.
Vibrating Edge
When compliments in red and green are adjacent, the eye perceives a faint white line along the edge. Vibrating edge can render typography unreadable.
Anologous
Similar, comparable, alike, for example, two colors that are near to each other, such as grass green and leaf green, are analogous.
Contrast
Differentiation between two or more elements of image color.
Harmony
Image with a balance of two or more colors that work together. For example taupe and gray.
Associations
Connections between colors and emotions, culture, experience, and memory.
