Editing Color (section)

{{Short description|Visual perception of the light spectrum}}
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{{Redirect|Colorful|other uses|Color (disambiguation)|and|Colorful (disambiguation)}}
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{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
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[[File:Colouring pencils.jpg|thumb|300x300px|[[Colored pencil]]s]]

'''Color''' (or '''colour''' in [[English in the Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth English]]; [[American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or|see spelling differences]]) is the [[visual perception]] based on the [[electromagnetic spectrum]].<!-- Don't add frequency, wavelength or photon energy as it is redundant. --> Though color is not an inherent property of [[matter]], color perception is related to an object's [[light absorption]], [[emission spectra|emission,]] [[Reflection (physics)|reflection]] and [[Transmittance|transmission]]. For most humans, colors are perceived in the visible [[light]] spectrum with three types of [[cone cell]]s ([[trichromacy]]). Other animals may have a different number of cone cell types or have eyes sensitive to different wavelengths, such as bees that can distinguish [[ultraviolet]], and thus have a different color sensitivity range. Animal perception of color originates from different light [[wavelength]] or [[spectral sensitivity]] in cone cell types, which is then processed by the [[brain]].

Colors have perceived properties such as [[hue]], [[colorfulness]] (saturation), and [[luminance]]. Colors can also be [[additive color|additively mixed]] (commonly used for actual light) or [[subtractive color|subtractively mixed]] (commonly used for materials). If the colors are mixed in the right proportions, because of [[metamerism (color)|metamerism]], they may look the same as a single-wavelength light. For convenience, colors can be organized in a [[color space]], which when being abstracted as a mathematical [[color model]] can assign each region of color with a corresponding set of numbers. As such, color spaces are an essential tool for [[color reproduction]] in [[color printing|print]], [[color photography|photography]], computer monitors, and [[color television|television]]. Some of the most well-known color models and color spaces are [[RGB]], [[CMYK]], [[HSL and HSV|HSL/HSV]], [[CIE Lab]], and [[YCbCr]]/[[YUV]].

Because the perception of color is an important aspect of human life, different colors have been associated with [[emotion]]s, activity, and [[nationality]]. Names of [[color term|color regions]] in different cultures can have different, sometimes overlapping areas. In [[visual arts]], [[color theory]] is used to govern the use of colors in an [[aesthetics|aesthetically pleasing]] and [[harmony (color)|harmonious]] way. The theory of color includes the [[complementary colors|color complements]]; [[color balance]]; and classification of [[primary color]]s, [[secondary color]]s, and [[tertiary color]]s. The study of colors in general is called [[color science]].