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Primary vs Secondary Colors

What is it?

  • The twelve hues of the color wheel are divided into primary colors, secondary colors, and tertiary colors.

Color Wheel

Primary Colors

  • The primary colors are those which cannot be created by mixing other colors in a given color space.

Secondary Colors

  • A secondary color is a color made by mixing two primary colors

  • In display (additive colors), primary colors are Red, Green, and Blue (RGB).

  • In display (additive colors), secondary colors are Yellow, Magenta, Cyan.

green + red = yellow

red + blue = magenta 

blue + green = cyan 

  • At additive colors, the more you add, the brighter, because they are emitting elements. 

  • with subtractive colors the more you put the darker because they are reflecting elements. 

  • In traditional painting (subtractive colors), primary colors are Red, Yellow, and Blue (RYC).

  • Here, secondary colors are Orange, Purple, and Green.

yellow + red = orange

red + blue = purple

blue + yellow = green

  • Used in Digtal display such as; TVs, Monitor, Projector, Mobile, Digital camera etc.

  • Used in Printing the documents.

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