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11
About Color Printing
This section describes the fundamentals of colors and the method for color printing from this printer.
The Three Primary Colors of Light and Color
The colors that you see in the computer display are expressed from the three primary colors of light
which are red, green, and blue. White will result if all the three primary colors are mixed (additive
process).
Most color printers express color not with the three primary colors of light but with their three inverted
complimentary colors, the same as those used in mixing plants, but with the addition of black as a
separate color. The three primary printing colors are cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), plus black (K)
(subtractive process).
The three primary colors of light and color are in a complementary color relationship.
The red in light and cyan in color, green in light and magenta in color, and blue in light and yellow in
color complement one another.
White
Green
Green
Blue
Blue
Red
Red
C
C
M
Y
M
Y
Black
Complementary
color
Green
Green
Blue
Blue
Red
Red
C
C
M
Y
M
Y