Editing CMYK color model (section)

== Comparison with RGB displays ==
[[File:CIE1931xy gamut comparison.svg|thumb|Comparison of some RGB and CMYK color gamuts on a [[CIE 1931 color space|CIE 1931]] ''xy'' chromaticity diagram]]

Comparisons between [[RGB]] displays and CMYK prints can be difficult, since the color reproduction technologies and properties are very different. A computer monitor mixes shades of red, green, and blue light to create color images. A CMYK printer instead uses light-absorbing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, whose colors are mixed using [[dithering]], halftoning, or some other optical technique.<ref>{{cite web |title=Overview of color in Illustrator |url=https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/color.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230207193742/https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/color.html |archive-date=February 7, 2023 |access-date=October 4, 2020 |publisher=[[Adobe Inc.]]}}</ref>

Similar to electronic displays, the inks used in printing produce color gamuts that are only a subsets of the visible gamut, and the two color modes have their own specific ranges, each being capable of producing colors the other is not. As a result of this, an image rendered on an electronic display and rendered in print can vary in appearance.<ref>Damien van Holten, Printinternational, "[http://www.printernational.org/rgb-versus-cmyk.php RGB Vs CMYK]"</ref> When designing images to be printed, designers work in RGB color spaces (electronic displays) capable of rendering colors a CMYK process cannot, and it is often difficult to accurately visualize a printed result that must fit into a different color space that both lacks some colors an electronic display can produce and includes colors it cannot.

=== Spectrum of printed paper ===
To reproduce color, the CMYK color model codes for absorbing light rather than emitting it (as is assumed by RGB). The ''K'' component ideally absorbs all wavelengths and is therefore achromatic. The cyan, magenta, and yellow components are used for color reproduction and they may be viewed as the inverse of RGB: Cyan absorbs red, magenta absorbs green, and yellow absorbs blue (−R,−G,−B).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.physics.wisc.edu/ingersollmuseum/exhibits/opticscolor/subcolormix/|title=Subtractive Color Mixing|publisher=[[L. R. Ingersoll Physics Museum]]|access-date=October 4, 2020}}</ref>

[[File:CMYK Spectrum printed paper.pdf|thumb|center|800px|Spectrum of the visible wavelengths on printed paper (SCA Graphosilk). Shown is the transition from red to yellow. White, red, blue, and green are shown for reference. Readings from a white orchid flower, a rose (red and yellow petals), and a red cyclamen flower are shown for comparison. The units of spectral power are simply raw sensor values (with a linear response at specific wavelengths).]]