Operation Manual

Working with color | 281
Working with color
CorelDRAW lets you choose and create colors by using a wide variety of industry-standard color palettes, color mixers, and color models. You
can store frequently used colors for future use by using the Document palette, or creating and editing custom color palettes.
You can customize how a color palette appears on your screen by changing the size of swatches, the number of rows, and other properties.
You can also create color styles. For more information, see “Working with color styles” on page 489.
This section contains the following topics:
• “Understanding color models” (page 281)
• “Understanding color depth” (page 283)
• “Choosing colors” (page 284)
• “Using the Document palette” (page 290)
• “Creating and editing custom color palettes” (page 293)
• “Organizing and displaying color palettes” (page 296)
• “Displaying or hiding color palettes in the Palette libraries” (page 297)
• “Setting the properties of color palettes” (page 299)
Understanding color models
Color models provide a precise method for defining colors, each model defining colors through the use of specific color components. There
is a range of color models to choose from when creating graphics.
CMYK color model
The CMYK color model, which is used in printing, uses the components cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), and black (K) to define color.
Values for these components range from 0 to 100 and represent percentages.
In subtractive color models, such as CMYK, color (that is, ink) is added to a surface, such as white paper. The color then “subtracts”
brightness from the surface. When the value of each color component (C,M,Y) is 100, the resulting color is black. When the value of each
component is 0, no color is added to the surface, so the surface itself is revealed — in this case, the white paper. Black (K) is included in the
color model for printing purposes because black ink is more neutral and darker than blending equal amounts of cyan, magenta, and yellow.
Black ink produces sharper results, especially for printed text. In addition, black ink is usually less expensive than using colored ink.