How additive and subtractive colour works when printing a digital image

RGB to CMYK flowchart

Figure 3.8. RGB to CMYK conversion flow diagram by RMIT, licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

When you create a digital image and then print it on paper, this involves a process of converting the additive colour system (RGB colour) in your digital image to a subtractive system (CMYK colour inks) that prints the correct colours onto paper.

Your image editing software or printer software is going through this conversion process, attempting to match what we can see on the digital screen with what will come out of the printer. It’s a complex process, and there are many different automated and manual methods for colour conversion.

More detailed information about subtractive colour and the print process can be found in 3.3 Colour systems: printing. View this page for more about converting images from RGB to CMYK.

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Colour Theory: Understanding and Working with Colour Copyright © 2023 by RMIT University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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