CMYK inks (subtractive)
CMYK inks (subtractive) is an interactive experiment in Colour Models, a free simulation from StudyFi Lab that runs right in your browser.
A printer starts with white paper and adds inks that absorb light: cyan absorbs red, magenta absorbs green and yellow absorbs blue. Every overlap removes more light, so cyan + yellow = green and all three together make a dark brownish black. For a true black and crisp text a separate black ink K is added: R = 255 · (1 − C) · (1 − K).
Try this: Set cyan and magenta to 100 % and yellow to 0 – you get blue. Then add K and watch the whole colour darken.
Frequently asked questions
What does the “CMYK inks (subtractive)” experiment show?
A printer starts with white paper and adds inks that absorb light: cyan absorbs red, magenta absorbs green and yellow absorbs blue. Every overlap removes more light, so cyan + yellow = green and all three together make a dark brownish black. For a true black and crisp text a separate black ink K is added: R = 255 · (1 − C) · (1 − K).
How do I try “CMYK inks (subtractive)”?
Set cyan and magenta to 100 % and yellow to 0 – you get blue. Then add K and watch the whole colour darken.
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