Subtractive Color Mixing
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A method of creating colors by combining pigments, inks, or dyes that absorb certain wavelengths and reflect others, where combining all colors produces black.
Subtractive mixing governs color in painting, printing, and any medium that uses physical pigments. The primary colors in subtractive mixing are cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY). Each pigment absorbs (subtracts) certain wavelengths and reflects the rest. Cyan absorbs red light, magenta absorbs green light, and yellow absorbs blue light. In theory, combining all three should produce black, but in practice the result is a muddy dark brown, which is why the CMYK printing system adds a dedicated black (K) ink for true blacks and sharper text.
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