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An introduction to color
In photography, red, green, and blue are the
primary colors. The secondary colors, cyan,
magenta, and yellow, are made from combin-
ing the primary colors: cyan = blue + green,
magenta = blue + red, and yellow = red +
green. The primary and secondary colors are
grouped in complementary pairs: red and
cyan, green and magenta, and blue and yel-
low.
Adding or subtracting equal parts of red, green, and blue will have no affect on the color balance.
However, it can change the overall image brightness and contrast. Usually, no more than two color
channels are needed to color balance an image.
Color balancing is a skill that develops with practice. While the human eye is extremely sensitive
in making comparative judgements, it is a poor tool when making absolute measurements of
color. Initially, it can be very difficult to distinguish between blue and cyan, and red and magenta.
However, adjusting the wrong color channel never improves an image; subtracting blue from an
image that is too cyan will give a green cast to the image.
If the image is too…
RED
GREEN
BLUE
CYAN
MAGENTA
YELLOW
Decrease the amount of green.
Decrease the amount of blue.
Increase the amount of red.
Increase the amount of green.
Increase the amount of blue.
Decrease the amount of red.
Knowing the complementary colors is very important in color balancing. If the image has a specif-
ic color cast, either subtracting the color or adding its complementary color will create a natural
looking image.
RED
GREEN
BLUE
CYAN
MAGENTA
YELLOW
