Understanding Color

The Basics of Color Theory

Color theory and printing go hand in hand. In order to be top-notch printers or designers we first need to be color experts. Knowing how color works, how light affects color, and how color can be perceived is critical to printing.

What is Color?

As defined in the dictionary color is:

“the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue.”

If you are not totally confused by that, then maybe you are too advanced for this article. If it is a little unclear, let me explain just a little further by starting with light. To truly understand color you need to first understand that light contains color. You may already know that light is emitted in waves. Light waves travel at such a high frequency that it is hard for the human eye to see the individual waves and we don’t necessarily notice them. Color is how we interpret the wave frequency of light as it interacts with an object. The lowest frequency we are able to see is Red and at the other end of the spectrum is Purple with the highest frequency.  White is all of the colors being reflected and Black is all of the colors being absorbed.

TED Talks video explaining the relationship of light and color:

Example:

You are looking at an apple. You know that the skin of the apple is green. You see that it is Green because the apple is absorbing all of the other colors in the light spectrum and reflecting Green light.

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How Humans See Color

Humans are what is known as Trichromats. We have three types of light receptive cells in our retinas that are sensitive to light. In other words, we can see color through three channels: Red, Green, and Blue. Because of this, we as humans can see around 10 million different colors.

Factors that can change and affect our color perception include:

• Fatigue
• Surrounding Color
• Color Deficiencies
• Viewing Conditions
• Age
• Sex

Example:

Have you ever gotten to work, after getting dressed in the morning, only to realize you have one black sock and one blue sock on? Well, if this hasn’t happened to you, it has probably happened to someone you know. Depending on the light, dark blue and black can be hard to tell apart.  Also, in the morning your eyes may be tired and have a tough time differentiating colors. These factors all play on color perception. Because once you arrive in a well-lit office, after a cup of coffee either you or your coworkers will have noticed the difference.

As a commercial printer, understanding the basics of color is essential to what we do on a daily basis. Knowing how colors interact with each other and understanding how light plays a critical role in color perception we are able to correctly manage color. One way a printer can optimize color output and flawlessly match color is by becoming a G7 and GRACoL qualified master printer.