Operation Manual

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Color
Last updated 9/13/2015
RGB model
A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing red, green, and blue (RGB) light in various
proportions and intensities. These three colors are called the additive primaries. Added together, red, green, and blue
light make white light. Where two colors overlap, they create cyan, magenta, or yellow.
The additive primary colors are used for lighting, video, and monitors. Your monitor, for example, creates color by
emitting light through red, green, and blue phosphors.
A Red B Green C Blue D Yel l o w E Magenta F Cyan
Color wheel
The color wheel is a convenient way to understand and remember the relationship between colors. Red, green, and blue
are the additive primaries. Cyan, magenta, and yellow are the subtractive primaries. Directly across from each additive
primary is its complement: red-cyan, green-magenta, and blue-yellow.
Each subtractive primary is made up of two additive primaries, but not its complement. So, if you increase the amount
of a primary color in your image, you reduce the amount of its complement. For example, yellow is composed of green
and red light, but there is no blue light in yellow. When adjusting yellow in Photoshop Elements, you change the color
values in the blue color channel. By adding blue to your image, you subtract yellow from it.
A Magenta B Red C Yel lo w D Green E Cyan F Blue
Color and tonal correction basics