Todos los matices o colores que percibimos poseen tres atributos básicos:.

El grado en que uno o dos de los tres colores primarios RGB (esta clasificación es referente a los colores básicos en la composición luminosa de una pantalla informática R=Red, G=Green, B=Blue, con los que se componen por medio de adición lumínica, distinta a la clasificación de los colores básicos o primarios de la pintura, en la que se mezclan por adición de pigmentos matéricos o físicos) predominan en un color. A medida que las cantidades de RGB se igualan, el color va perdiendo saturación hasta convertirse en gris o blanco.

Theories of color use

Modern theories of the use of color determine that its properties are two: hue and luminosity.

The hue has to do with the type of color: burnt sienna, green, ivory black, titanium white, pink, etc.

Lightness is the amount of light that each color has and can be differentiated from other colors, for example, a yellow is lighter than a blue or a green is lighter than a brown.

Saturation properly understood has to do with the amount of matter that is applied to a surface, therefore saturating means filling a surface with pigment. Adding gray to colors as a way of saturating does nothing other than obtain a new color as a result of the mixture. It can be proven by experiment. Therefore, a color, even to which gray is added, can saturate a surface with greater or lesser effectiveness depending on the technique used and the quality of the materials with which it has been manufactured. For example, the watercolor technique has a lower capacity to saturate than acrylic.

Harmonious colors are those that work well together, that is, they produce a color scheme sensitive to the same sense (harmony is born from the perception of the senses and, at the same time, this harmony feeds back to the sense, making it achieve the maximum balance that is making the sense feel). The color wheel is a useful tool for determining color harmonies. Complementary colors are those that contrast in said circle and that produce a strong contrast. Thus, for example, in the RGB model green is complementary to red, while in the CMY model green is complementary to magenta.

Un espacio de color define un modelo de composición del color. Por lo general un espacio de color lo define una base de N vectores "Vector (matemática)") (por ejemplo, el espacio RGB lo forman 3 vectores: rojo, verde y azul), cuya combinación lineal genera todo el espacio de color. Los espacios de color más generales intentan englobar la mayor cantidad posible de los colores visibles por el ojo humano, aunque existen espacios de color que intentan aislar tan solo un subconjunto de ellos.

Existen espacios de color de:.

De los cuales, los espacios de color de tres dimensiones son los más extendidos y los más utilizados. Entonces, un color se especifica usando tres coordenadas, o atributos, que representan su posición dentro de un espacio de color específico. Estas coordenadas no nos dicen cuál es el color, sino que muestran dónde se encuentra un color dentro de un espacio de color en particular.

RGB space

RGB is known as an additive color space (primary colors) because when light of two different frequencies travels together, from the observer's point of view, these colors are added to create new types of colors. The colors red, green, and blue were chosen because each roughly corresponds to one of the three types of color-sensitive cones in the human eye (65% sensitive to red, 33% sensitive to green, and 2% sensitive to blue). With the appropriate combination of red, green and blue, many of the colors that humans can perceive can be reproduced. For example, pure red and light green produce yellow, red and blue produce magenta, green and blue combined create cyan and the three together, mixed at maximum intensity, generate intense white.

There is also the derived space RGBA, which adds the "Channel (digital image)") alpha (transparency) channel to the original RGB space.

CMYK space

CMY works by absorbing light (secondary colors).

The colors that are seen are the part of light that is not absorbed. In liss, magenta plus yellow produce red, magenta plus cyan produce blue, cyan plus yellow produce green, and the combination of cyan, magenta, and yellow forms black.

The black generated by mixing subtractive primary colors is not as dense as pure black (one that absorbs the entire visible spectrum). This is why a key channel (key) has been added to the original CMY, which is normally the black channel (black), to form the CMYK or CMYB space. Currently four-color printers use a black cartridge in addition to the primary colors in this space, which generates better contrast. However, the color that a person sees on a computer screen differs from the same color on a printer, because the RGB and CMY models are different. The color in RGB is made by the reflection or emission of light, while CMY, by absorbing it.

YIQ Space

It was a color recoding carried out for the American NTSC chromatic television standard, which was to be compatible with black and white television. The names of the components of this model are Y for luminance (luminance), I phase (in-phase) and Q quadrature (quadrature). The first is the monochrome signal from black and white television and the last two generate the color tint and saturation. The I and Q parameters are named in relation to the modulation method used to encode the carrier signal. The values ​​of the RGB signals are summed to produce a single Y' signal that represents the overall illumination or brightness of a particular point. The I signal is created by subtracting the Y' of the blue signal from the original RGB values ​​and then the Q is made by subtracting the Y' signal from the red.

HSV Space

It is a cylindrical space, but usually associated with a cone or hexagonal cone, because it is a visible subset of the original space with valid RGB values.

In the RYB color model, red, yellow and blue are considered primary colors, and in theory, the rest of the pure colors (matter color) can be created by mixing red, yellow and blue paint. Despite its obsolescence and imprecision, many people learn something about this model in primary education studies, mixing paint or colored pencils with these primary colors.

The RYB model is still generally used in traditional art and painting concepts, but has been completely neglected in industrial mixing of paint pigments. Even when used as a guide for mixing pigments, the RYB model does not accurately represent the colors that result from mixing the three primary RYB colors, since blue and red are truly secondary hues. Despite the imprecision of this model – its correction is the CMYK model – it continues to be used in the visual arts, graphic design and other related disciplines, in the tradition of Goethe's original model of 1810.

In the retina of the eye there are millions of cells specialized in detecting wavelengths from our environment. These photoreceptor cells, cones "Cone (cell)") and rods "Rod (cell)"), collect part of the light spectrum and, thanks to the photoelectric effect, transform it into electrical impulses, which are sent to the brain through the optic nerves, to create the sensation of color.

There are groups of cones specialized in detecting and processing a certain color, the total number of them dedicated to one color and another being different. For example, there are more cells specialized in working with the wavelengths corresponding to red than any other color, so when the environment in which we find ourselves sends us too much red, there is a saturation of information in the brain of this color.

When a person's rod and cone system is not correct, a series of irregularities can occur in the appreciation of color, as well as when the parts of the brain responsible for processing this data are damaged. This is the explanation of phenomena such as color blindness. A colorblind person does not appreciate the ranges of colors in their proper measure, confusing reds with greens.

Because the color identification process depends on the brain and ocular system of each specific person, we can accurately measure the spectrum of a given color, but the concept of the color produced is totally subjective, depending on the person themselves. Two different people can interpret a given color differently, and there can be as many interpretations of a color as there are people.

The mechanism of mixing and producing colors produced by the reflection of light on a body is not the same as that of obtaining colors by direct mixing of light rays.

Todos los matices o colores que percibimos poseen tres atributos básicos:.

El grado en que uno o dos de los tres colores primarios RGB (esta clasificación es referente a los colores básicos en la composición luminosa de una pantalla informática R=Red, G=Green, B=Blue, con los que se componen por medio de adición lumínica, distinta a la clasificación de los colores básicos o primarios de la pintura, en la que se mezclan por adición de pigmentos matéricos o físicos) predominan en un color. A medida que las cantidades de RGB se igualan, el color va perdiendo saturación hasta convertirse en gris o blanco.

Theories of color use

Modern theories of the use of color determine that its properties are two: hue and luminosity.

The hue has to do with the type of color: burnt sienna, green, ivory black, titanium white, pink, etc.

Lightness is the amount of light that each color has and can be differentiated from other colors, for example, a yellow is lighter than a blue or a green is lighter than a brown.

Saturation properly understood has to do with the amount of matter that is applied to a surface, therefore saturating means filling a surface with pigment. Adding gray to colors as a way of saturating does nothing other than obtain a new color as a result of the mixture. It can be proven by experiment. Therefore, a color, even to which gray is added, can saturate a surface with greater or lesser effectiveness depending on the technique used and the quality of the materials with which it has been manufactured. For example, the watercolor technique has a lower capacity to saturate than acrylic.

Harmonious colors are those that work well together, that is, they produce a color scheme sensitive to the same sense (harmony is born from the perception of the senses and, at the same time, this harmony feeds back to the sense, making it achieve the maximum balance that is making the sense feel). The color wheel is a useful tool for determining color harmonies. Complementary colors are those that contrast in said circle and that produce a strong contrast. Thus, for example, in the RGB model green is complementary to red, while in the CMY model green is complementary to magenta.

Un espacio de color define un modelo de composición del color. Por lo general un espacio de color lo define una base de N vectores "Vector (matemática)") (por ejemplo, el espacio RGB lo forman 3 vectores: rojo, verde y azul), cuya combinación lineal genera todo el espacio de color. Los espacios de color más generales intentan englobar la mayor cantidad posible de los colores visibles por el ojo humano, aunque existen espacios de color que intentan aislar tan solo un subconjunto de ellos.

Existen espacios de color de:.

De los cuales, los espacios de color de tres dimensiones son los más extendidos y los más utilizados. Entonces, un color se especifica usando tres coordenadas, o atributos, que representan su posición dentro de un espacio de color específico. Estas coordenadas no nos dicen cuál es el color, sino que muestran dónde se encuentra un color dentro de un espacio de color en particular.

RGB space

RGB is known as an additive color space (primary colors) because when light of two different frequencies travels together, from the observer's point of view, these colors are added to create new types of colors. The colors red, green, and blue were chosen because each roughly corresponds to one of the three types of color-sensitive cones in the human eye (65% sensitive to red, 33% sensitive to green, and 2% sensitive to blue). With the appropriate combination of red, green and blue, many of the colors that humans can perceive can be reproduced. For example, pure red and light green produce yellow, red and blue produce magenta, green and blue combined create cyan and the three together, mixed at maximum intensity, generate intense white.

There is also the derived space RGBA, which adds the "Channel (digital image)") alpha (transparency) channel to the original RGB space.

CMYK space

CMY works by absorbing light (secondary colors).

The colors that are seen are the part of light that is not absorbed. In liss, magenta plus yellow produce red, magenta plus cyan produce blue, cyan plus yellow produce green, and the combination of cyan, magenta, and yellow forms black.

The black generated by mixing subtractive primary colors is not as dense as pure black (one that absorbs the entire visible spectrum). This is why a key channel (key) has been added to the original CMY, which is normally the black channel (black), to form the CMYK or CMYB space. Currently four-color printers use a black cartridge in addition to the primary colors in this space, which generates better contrast. However, the color that a person sees on a computer screen differs from the same color on a printer, because the RGB and CMY models are different. The color in RGB is made by the reflection or emission of light, while CMY, by absorbing it.

YIQ Space

It was a color recoding carried out for the American NTSC chromatic television standard, which was to be compatible with black and white television. The names of the components of this model are Y for luminance (luminance), I phase (in-phase) and Q quadrature (quadrature). The first is the monochrome signal from black and white television and the last two generate the color tint and saturation. The I and Q parameters are named in relation to the modulation method used to encode the carrier signal. The values ​​of the RGB signals are summed to produce a single Y' signal that represents the overall illumination or brightness of a particular point. The I signal is created by subtracting the Y' of the blue signal from the original RGB values ​​and then the Q is made by subtracting the Y' signal from the red.

HSV Space

It is a cylindrical space, but usually associated with a cone or hexagonal cone, because it is a visible subset of the original space with valid RGB values.

In the RYB color model, red, yellow and blue are considered primary colors, and in theory, the rest of the pure colors (matter color) can be created by mixing red, yellow and blue paint. Despite its obsolescence and imprecision, many people learn something about this model in primary education studies, mixing paint or colored pencils with these primary colors.

The RYB model is still generally used in traditional art and painting concepts, but has been completely neglected in industrial mixing of paint pigments. Even when used as a guide for mixing pigments, the RYB model does not accurately represent the colors that result from mixing the three primary RYB colors, since blue and red are truly secondary hues. Despite the imprecision of this model – its correction is the CMYK model – it continues to be used in the visual arts, graphic design and other related disciplines, in the tradition of Goethe's original model of 1810.

In the retina of the eye there are millions of cells specialized in detecting wavelengths from our environment. These photoreceptor cells, cones "Cone (cell)") and rods "Rod (cell)"), collect part of the light spectrum and, thanks to the photoelectric effect, transform it into electrical impulses, which are sent to the brain through the optic nerves, to create the sensation of color.

There are groups of cones specialized in detecting and processing a certain color, the total number of them dedicated to one color and another being different. For example, there are more cells specialized in working with the wavelengths corresponding to red than any other color, so when the environment in which we find ourselves sends us too much red, there is a saturation of information in the brain of this color.

When a person's rod and cone system is not correct, a series of irregularities can occur in the appreciation of color, as well as when the parts of the brain responsible for processing this data are damaged. This is the explanation of phenomena such as color blindness. A colorblind person does not appreciate the ranges of colors in their proper measure, confusing reds with greens.

Because the color identification process depends on the brain and ocular system of each specific person, we can accurately measure the spectrum of a given color, but the concept of the color produced is totally subjective, depending on the person themselves. Two different people can interpret a given color differently, and there can be as many interpretations of a color as there are people.

The mechanism of mixing and producing colors produced by the reflection of light on a body is not the same as that of obtaining colors by direct mixing of light rays.