Additive color
Color made by adding light. Red, green and blue light combine toward white; screens work this way.
Also called additive color mixing, additive colour
Additive color starts from darkness and adds light. Mix red, green and blue light at full strength and you get white; take them all away and you get black.
Every screen is additive: each pixel is three tiny lights, and a color like #2387FF is just a recipe for how bright each one is. That is why screen colors can glow in a way printed colors cannot.
Guides that cover Additive color
- Mixing Additive vs Subtractive Color Additive vs subtractive color explained: how RGB light adds up to white, how CMYK ink subtracts toward black, and why screens and print differ. Read on.
- Color Wheel Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors Explained Primary, secondary and tertiary colors explained across RYB, RGB and CMYK, with how each one is mixed on the color wheel. Learn the basics in 5 minutes.
- Pantone What Are Pantone Colors? Learn what Pantone colors are, how the Pantone Matching System and color codes work, and how Pantone compares to CMYK, RGB and HEX for print. Read on.
- CMYK What are CMYK colors? What is CMYK? Learn how the CMYK color model works, how it differs from RGB, and why print looks duller than your screen, plus how to convert. Read on.
- RGB What are RGB colors? RGB color explained: how red, green and blue - 255 values make every color on screen, how to read an RGB color code, RGB vs HEX, and RGBA. Learn it fast.