Editing CMYK color model (section)

{{Short description|Subtractive color model, used in color printing}}
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{{Multiple image
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| image1 = CMYK Color Swatches.svg
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| caption1 = Color printing typically uses ink of four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
| image2 = CMYK color model.svg 
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| caption2 = When subtractive CMY inks are combined at full strength, pairwise combinations are red, green, and blue. Combining all three gives an imperfect black color.
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{{Multiple image
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|image1 = CMYK closeup.jpg
|image2 = CMYK under a microscope.jpg
|caption2 = What appears as [[cerulean]] ({{Color sample|#489490}}) in the top image is actually a blend of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, as magnification under a [[microscope]] demonstrates.
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The '''CMYK color model''' (also known as '''process color''', or '''four color''') is a [[Subtractive color|subtractive]] [[color model]], based on the [[CMY color model]], used in [[color printing]], and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers to the four ink plates used: [[cyan|'''c'''yan]], [[magenta|'''m'''agenta]], [[yellow|'''y'''ellow]], and [[key plate|'''k'''ey]] (most often black).

The CMYK model works by partially or entirely masking colors on a lighter, usually white, background. The ink reduces the light that would otherwise be reflected. Such a model is called ''subtractive'', as inks ''subtract'' some colors from white light; in the CMY model, white light minus red leaves cyan, white light minus green leaves magenta, and white light minus blue leaves yellow.

In [[additive color]] models, such as [[RGB color model|RGB]], white is the ''additive'' combination of all [[primary color|primary]] colored lights, and black is the absence of light. In the CMYK model, it is the opposite: white is the natural color of the paper or other background, and black results from a full combination of colored inks. To save cost on ink, and to produce deeper black tones, [[saturation (color theory)|unsaturated]] and dark colors are produced by using black ink instead of or in addition to combinations of cyan, magenta, and yellow.

<!-- In [[color printing]], the shade of cyan called '''process cyan''' or '''pigment cyan''' is one of the three primary pigment colors which, along with [[yellow]] and [[magenta]], constitute the three [[Primary colors#Color space primaries|subtractive primary colors]] of pigment. (The secondary colors of pigment are blue, green and red.) As such, -->The CMYK printing process was invented in the 1890s, when newspapers began to publish color [[comic strip]]s.